The Pack Imperative
by unbidden16
Summary: The Quileute legends were not entirely accurate in their depiction of imprinting. Who was to know that the pack imperative was so strong? Bella is just about to find out how strong. A/U. Warning: ménage, mature themes, domestic discipline. 'STRONG' SCENES REMOVED TO ULTERIOR SITES DUE TO CRITERIA...see profile for details/links.
1. Chapter 1: Departure

**Notes:** This story is an alternate universe of Twilight. Bella is the youngest of any of the wolves, Jacob included. I do not know how well this story is going to go over or how quickly I will update it. The story itself is near completion, but I was unsure as to if I wanted to post it. This story will be more mature in nature than any of my other stories and may have themes that others will dislike immensely.

If you do not condone ménage (multiple sex-partners), please do not read this story!

As you read you will see the differences clearly between my story and Stephenie Meyer's. This story will be darker in some point and contain ménage, mature themes, D/S, spanking, and pack love (not M/M). The language will also be more vulgar. Please do not hate me.

If you like this story at all please review. This kind of story is new for me to post and I am not used to writing sexual stories in relation to fan-fiction. The first chapter will resemble the New Moon scene when Edward leaves Bella, but that is essentially the only chapter that I mimic so thoroughly. Everything else is custom (certain scenes will take place as in the book, but not in the same way).

Also, like with my other fanfictions, I ask that when someone reviews that they do not use profanity towards me or my readers. I will listen to any and all feedback, make corrections when they are pointed out, and respond to most all my reviews if I am asked a question, but I do not allow vulgarity around each other. You will be heard better if you are polite.

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Twilight.

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Departure<strong>

"This isn't a social call, is it?" Bella asked softly as she hopped out of her truck to look towards where Edward stood at the side of her house.

During school she had been as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. It had started when Edward had informed her that morning that he would be unable to pick her up and take her to school as he normally did. Under normal circumstances she might have bypassed his nonchalant tone, but with the incident on her birthday so recently, barely a week, behind them she didn't trust it. Her anxiousness was proven when at school the Cullen's table had been empty.

She had become used to the family being incognito when the sun decided to make a rare appearance so as to avoid the inevitable question of why they seemed to 'sparkle' in the sunlight. She had gotten regularly used to then changing out to hunt. Two or three of them would remain at school while the others would hunt. This day had been different, however. As dark and gloomy as ever and knowing that all of them were recently fed Bella knew that the entire family's absence heralded something big.

And in all likelihood it wouldn't be good for her.

"Please follow me, Bella." Edward intoned before making his way into the woods. Bella watched him for a moment before following slowly after. His grace always amazed her. The way he moved was enticing in its simplicity and terrifying in how predatory it was. At all times she could feel the tightly caged animal just underneath the surface of his too cold skin waiting to surface. At times it was frightening, but for the most part Bella found it exhilarating. She was a junkie for the high of being around such a predator brought her.

As she followed Edward into the woods, she took notice of the fact that he hadn't brought the Volvo. Another warning chimed in her head that they were bound to have a conversation that she was sure would end on a sour note. Though Charlie wasn't due home for another hour or so Edward preferred to keep up appearances and have the car handy. If he didn't bring it then that meant that he was not planning on staying with her for very long.

Edward led her into the forest several hundred yards, just enough to see back to the way she'd come and navigate her way home, but physically unable to see the house any longer. He kept a safe distance from her as if she had a contagious disease. She could feel his apprehension from where she padded after him, her steps cautious of the upturned roots and decomposing debris scattered about. It wouldn't do to fall and bust her face open she was certain.

Bella came to a standstill when Edward finally turned to face her. His amber colored eyes glittered with something that she had come to know quite well in the past week. It was a mixture of guilt, grief, and apprehension. Those three emotions had become his whole being. They had become all that he would ever express to her.

They remained silent for so long that Bella feared that she might have to be the one to break the tense silence. The air was colder today and the skies seemed to crackle with the building pressure between them. It was just as likely to pour down sheets of rain upon them as it was to keep as hideously dark and overcast, though she was prone to believe that with the gusting wind that a storm was just awaiting the perfect moment to strike.

Finally Edward sighed and turned his head slightly away from her.

"Bella, we're leaving." He spoke flatly, his eyes refusing to make contact with her any longer.

Worrying on her lower lip, Bella took his words for what they were worth. With a heavy sigh she took a step closer to the boy that had become her whole world in the very short time that she had been living in Forks.

"When you say _we_," she queried softly, the tears building just behind her eyes, "you don't mean me, too, do you?"

"No, Bella. I do not." She fought back the need to weep at the cold, cool calm of his voice. Here he was initiating in their separation and he had the nerve to be composed about it while she was breaking slowly up inside. "I mean my family and myself."

It was several minutes before Bella could bring herself together enough to continue with this loathsome conversation.

"What happened with Jasper…that was nothing that I was not prepared to deal with eventually."

"You should not have to deal with that, Bella." Edward snapped with a fierceness that she was not used to seeing in him. His tone caused her to flinch, though she showed no other reaction to his anger. "I promised to do what was best for you. Staying here with you would by far be the worst mistake I will have ever made in my life, Bella. I am not Romeo."

'_So many mistakes._' The words echoed in her mind until it was sickening. She felt her stomach roll, but once again she suppressed the urge to do what she so desperately wanted to do. She needed to get through this in one piece. She could afford to let herself crumble later in the safety of her own room, but not here. Not now.

"No, you are not." She hissed, the tears stinging hotly behind her lids.

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me."

"It's more than that." She assured him, her brown eyes burning with ire and agony into his own. She glared at him until there was no choice whatsoever of ignoring her any longer. Her lips trembled as his liquid gold eyes met with her own gaze. The pain was becoming to a fruition and she needed to ask the one question that would end it all. It would open the floodgates, she was certain, but this needed to come to a conclusion before either of them could hurt each other anymore.

"You don't want me." She reaffirmed, the words more of an accusation than a question.

His eyes seemingly focused onto the ground beneath them for several tense moments before he once again faced her, the look in his eyes showing his hardness.

"No."

Bella turned her back on him then. The tears broke free, but the sobs were still held in check. She knew that later tonight that she would be reverted into the proverbial 'crying jay', but for the moment she was semi-stable. She was like a house crumbling. The structure was so far unshaken, but the rest of the home was falling to the wayside.

"If it is what you want…" She began succinctly, the nonchalance of her tone giving away nothing of her inner turmoil. She would have been so proud of herself if it weren't for the fact that her heart was breaking and that the numbness that was enveloping her was doing nothing to relieve that agony. "If it is what you want, then who am I to stand in your way?"

"It is." He responded flatly. She could feel him approach a few steps behind her though she could not hear the footfalls. She had always been absurdly aware of him no matter if she could see him or not. "I would ask one favor of you, though, if it is within my rights."

"It isn't." She snapped, her calm evaporating at his gall. He had no rights with her anymore. He had given up anything and everything he had held with her the moment he had uttered that 'no'.

And yet she could deny him nothing.

"Ask your favor Edward." She whispered knowing that he would still hear her.

"Don't do anything reckless or stupid."

The laugh that escaped her then was bitter and stagnant. Of course. What had she expected? Did she really think that he might ask her to wait for him? To find someone more worthy of her? Not in so many words, yet she wanted something more than what he'd asked of her. She wanted something that would be more substantial and possible help her to reinforce her crumbling self-worth.

"Bella, do you understand me? Charlie needs you. Do it for him."

"You've said your peace, Edward." She retorted coldly, her jaw clenched in the effort to hold back the vicious words she wished to spit at him.

"Please, Bella. Promise me. In return I will make my own promise." He came closer yet. "I will leave you be. I will never return. You will never be put through the hardships you have faced with me again. I will make it so that it was as though I never existed."

Another laugh, this one softer. Her head shook slowly, sorrowfully.

"You foolish, foolish boy." Bella exhaled deeply. "You can erase the physical evidence of your presence, but do you honestly believe that you have the ability to completely remove yourself from my memories? If you do, then you truly are depraved."

It was several more minutes before anyone spoke again. Bella felt ghostly fingers skim over the back of her scalp before the sensation was gone entirely.

"That's everything, I suppose." He murmured as he stepped away. "We will not bother you again."

"They're gone already?" She deadpanned, referring to the rest of the family. She was already trying to detach herself from all of this. It wouldn't stop the heartache, but it was her hope that maybe she could keep herself from breaking completely.

"Yes. They have already left. I remained to say goodbye."

"You should have just left." She uttered bitterly, her own feet carrying her off towards the house.

"I will always love you…in a way." His words were spoken from far away now. Bella kept walking.

"But not in the way that I wanted." She parlayed, her voice cracking with the emotion she was trying so hard to hide. "Goodbye, Edward."

The wind picked up even more then, the scent of maple thick in the air. Bella let her eyes overflow with the tears that she could never hope to stop. With every step she took she felt like her insides were disintegrating. She couldn't lose it here. She just couldn't.

"Goodbye, Bella."

Those two simple words struck her in the back like a knife. Her feet locked to the ground beneath her and her teeth clenched so tightly together that she thought that they mind grind down into dust. Unimaginable pain ripped through her insides as that farewell registered completely.

Bella whipped around to face Edward for the final time.

But he was gone.

With what seemed like the force of a thousand tornadoes Bella fell to her knees clutching her head between her fists. The wind whipped at her freely hanging hair. A scream ripped from her chest as she released her devastation to the eerily silent forest around her.

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><p>It was hours later when Bella was able to stumble her way into her own home. The sound of Charlie's distressed voice reached her from the kitchen to where she stood in the foyer. Shaking her head vigorously Bella strode as surely as she was able into the kitchen.<p>

"I think she's gone, too, Billy." Charlie hurriedly explained, his tone harried. "My God, Billy! I knew that things were moving too fast with that boy. I should have put a stop to it. I should have told her to stay away from him even before Pheonix. I'm getting everyone together. Do you think that you could…"

"…Hang up the phone, Dad." Bella interrupted, her voice raw from her scream and her earlier sobbing.

Charlie whipped around, his eyes frantic. He dropped the phone in a flash, not bothering to put it on the receiver, and charged towards her. His arms encompassed her in a tight embrace.

"Bella! I was so worried!" He gushed, his body trembling with what she assumed to be relief.

"I'm sorry, Dad." She whispered into his ear as she hugged him back. She could hear a deep voice, one that she assumed to be Billy's, yelling over the still active phone line. "I think you should tell Billy that I'm home. I'll be in the living room."

She pulled herself from his arms before he could say anything. Bella walked gingerly into the living room before settling onto the sofa. A few stray tears continued to cascade down her raw cheeks, but she was otherwise silent.

"She's home, Billy." She heard her father say in a muted tone. She might not have been able to hear it under normal circumstances, but with all of her senses acutely aware of everything around her in her frazzled state, she couldn't mistake the words. "I'll call you back. I have to talk to her. I'm sorry."

Bella sat stiffly on the sofa cushions, determined not to curl up into herself. She was already a mess from her crying jag out in the forest. She had let herself crumble to bits on the forest floor. She imagined that she looked a fright with all the dirt and twigs in her hair as well as sprinkled over her face and clothes. Without the jacket she was certain that she would have gotten hypothermia after darkness had fallen.

Charlie tromped into the room, a determined look stamped onto his face. Bella was fairly certain that she was going to get reamed for scaring him to death, but then something a lot like pity flickered through his eyes when he got a good look at her. In the moment that it took him to crouch down before her, Bella realized that her father had just taken in her broken appearance and deemed it that she was in enough suffering so he would forgo the lecture until later.

"Bells?" Her father whispered, his hands coming to rest upon her stiffly set knees.

"They're gone." She hiccupped, her heartbreak clear to even her ears. "They packed up and left. Edward just said goodbye and that was it."

The silence was something that Bella was becoming increasingly familiar with. Except in school when she was forced to endure Jessica and Lauren's incessant whining she had been fairly quiet around both her father and the Cullens. None of them really were open enough to speak freely to each other. At the time it was normal for her and yet now that she had time to really think about, to truly sit in the silence, she hated it. She despised the silence with a passion.

"It hurts." Bella choked out, her hand coming to fist on her jacket above where her heart lay. "I gave him everything and he just…Edward told me…I can't…"

On that note Bella fell forward into her father's arms and whimpered into his neck. His arms rose slowly to hold her closer. His warm breath skirted past her ear as he shushed her.

"Shh. It'll be okay, Bella." His hands rubbed circles into her back to try and soothe her. "It's okay, honey. It hurts now and you'll never forget, but the pain does get better. Shh. Calm down."

Bella wasn't really aware of how much time passed before she felt her father removing her jacket, her shoes, and then lowering into a reclined position on the sofa. He nabbed the afghan from the back of the sofa before spreading it over her. His eyes bore into her swollen ones before he smiled a little harshly.

"I'm going to go make you some tea and grab a sleeping pill from the cabinet. Just rest, Bella." He murmured before making his way into the kitchen.

Time passed slowly as Bella allowed herself to fall in and out of consciousness. It seemed like every time she fell asleep the phone would ring and wake her back up. She wanted to go to her room to where it was quiet, but there were two problems with that desire. The first was that she was too exhausted to move from the sofa. The second was that deep down she didn't want to be alone and she knew that if she went to her room that the feeling of loneliness would intensify.

It wasn't until well past midnight, if the clock on the DVR under the television was anything to go by, that a peculiar call came in. Charlie grumbled into the phone before hanging it up and dialing a new number. The person on the other end answered quickly.

"Hey Billy. It's Charlie. I'm sorry to be calling so late…no, no. She's fine. She's sleeping now. That's not why I called anyway. Mrs. Stanley just called and told me that she can see smoke coming from the Sea Cliffs…" There was a silence before his voice returned, a hard edge to it. "Why are they doing that? Uh huh. Really?...Don't apologize, Billy. Just make sure that they don't let those fires spread. So long as it's not on the Reservation it's out of my hands…"

Bella listened halfheartedly as she yawned and pulled the afghan up over her head. She would be more comfortable in pajamas right now, she knew, but she was just too tired to care much.

"Look, how is Jake? Is he feeling any better? After Bella's little birthday accident I remember you telling me that he had come down with mono." Charlie began, his tone a trifle lighter now that he wasn't talking about the possible felony taking place in La Push.

She felt her eyes widen a little. Jacob was sick? She'd talked to him a bit over the phone even after her poor attempt at flirting at First Beach last summer. He was a good guy…a little naïve, but otherwise a marvelous esteem-booster. That man could make anyone smile. He'd called the morning of her birthday before school to wish her well. Though she hadn't liked the reminder of the added year onto her life, she couldn't help but smile and thank him wholeheartedly.

"Ah, that's good to hear…With Sam Uley, huh? Is that the boy that's been leading some of the other young men in cleaning up the Reservation?...I thought so. He's certainly been setting a good example for the rest of the Tribe."

Bella remembered a Sam from First Beach when she'd encountered Jacob after so many years. He'd been the twenty-two year old that looked older. He'd been such a big guy! Jacob had been bragging to her that he'd been going through a growth spurt, but she doubted that he could match Sam's six and half feet height. Oddly enough, something about the way the guy had looked had told Bella that he hadn't stopped growing even then. Maybe this Sam Uley was the same Sam from the beach?

"Oh. Uh-yeah. I was actually thinking of sending her back to Jacksonville for a little while. Renee knows this kind of thing better than I do. It might do her some good, anyway. Just to, you know, get away from everything…Sure sure. I'll call you tomorrow. Have a nice night, Billy."

Bella peeked out from under the covers to look at her father as he came back into the living room. The television was still on, the movie '_Remember the Titans_' playing quietly, but she paid no attention to it. Her father looked harried as he reclaimed his seat in the recliner. He brushed his hand through his hair before sighing deeply. It took a drawn out minute for him to realize that she was awake.

"Oh, Bells. I thought you were asleep. I'm sorry if I woke you."

"No big deal." She assured him with a yawn. A wry smile curled her lips. "I haven't been able to sleep much anyway. So, you're sending me away?"

"No, Bella! No." He tried to amend his earlier words to Billy quickly, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She could even see their rosy hue in the little light provided by the television. "It's just…well, wouldn't you rather be with your mother for this kind of thing? I don't think that any father is really equipped to have these 'break-up' talks with their daughters."

She winced and shuddered under the blanket at the term 'break-up'. Charlie had no idea of how close he was to the true meaning of the phrase. She'd had time to wallow in her thoughts out in the woods and she'd realized that she'd committed far too much of herself to Edward Cullen. She'd been a girl with her first crush, her first true love, and he'd effectively shattered her faith in the opposite sex for anything but general friendship. He broke her heart in one fail swoop.

_Now isn't that a kick in the pants?_

"Dad, Renee isn't exactly the best with that sort of thing, either." She grumbled back as she tried to recover from the emotional blow she just took. "I was the one that was her shoulder to cry on if something like that ever happened to her. I love Mom, I really do, but sometimes she's the kid in our relationship.

"I'd rather stay here. Please?"

They stared at each other for a long moment, Charlie seeming to ponder over what she asked of him and her too afraid to break the silence and ruin her chances of staying. She wasn't sure why, at least not entirely, she didn't want to go to Jacksonville with Renee and Phil. It was partially due to the exact reason she gave Charlie, but it was something else, too. She felt that she had to stay. There was something deep down pulling at her very soul, begging for her to remain here in Forks. At this point in time logic had blown right out the window and she was relying solely on her gut feelings. They got her into this mess, they would get her out.

"Fine." Charlie conceded with his brows furrowed. "But if you need to go to see your mother all you have to do is ask. I love you, Bells. I only want what's best for you. If that means that you need to be with your mother, then I guess…"

"Dad," Bella interrupted softly, her hand appearing out from under the blanket to rest on his knee. "It's okay. And I love you, too, Dad."

Charlie leaned forward then and pecked her lightly on the forehead. His brown eyes, ones that she had inherited from him, bore down into her. A genuine, fatherly smile spread across his face as he looked down at her.

_Well, today we're just a loving family. _A little voice in the back of her head chimed sarcastically. Still, Bella couldn't help but feel warmed inwardly by her father's actions. Maybe they weren't as estranged as she had once thought they were.

"Get some sleep, kiddo. We'll go out for breakfast in the morning so you don't have to cook."

"All right. Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Bells."

Bella allowed her eyes to drift close and this time the phone didn't ring and wake her back up.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Me and Missing You

**Chapter Two: Meeting Me and Missing You**

Apparently staying outside during questionable weather wasn't conducive to maintaining one's health.

The morning following the Cullen's departure Bella found herself as sick as a dog. Her nose was clogged, her head spun, her throat was on fire, and she was almost certain that if she attempted to rotate her head around on her shoulders like the girl from The Exorcism that she would be successful. Of course that didn't mean that she was tempted to _try_ it. Even opening her eyes was like inviting an excavation crew into the privacy of her own mind and they were not afraid to use jackhammers.

_Colds aren't supposed to come on this quickly._ She groused to herself, the only solace coming from the silence of her mind…provided she made no movements and kept her eyes firmly shut. _What happened to getting the sniffles and maybe a bit of a cough first? No, I feel like I just drove head-first into crapville and this cold is the mayor._

Bella lay prone on the sofa, two comforters and a heated blanket strewn over her. Charlie had come towards her early that morning to see why she hadn't been up and about like she normally was. Bella guessed that he expected her natural tendencies to be an early riser wouldn't have changed too much after Edward left, which she might have been inclined to agree with him under any other circumstances. As it was, he'd found her curled up in a fetal position on the sofa, trying to leach whatever warmth she could from the single comforter. Upon feeling her forehead he'd discovered the fever…also hinted at by the paleness to her skin.

_Why is it that when you get a fever you freeze your butt off?_ She wondered silently to herself. _You'd think that you'd be all but ready to dive into the Arctic waters naked._

Instead she was bundled up in her warmest flannel pajamas and buried under covers.

Charlie had brought another comforter for her along with the electric blanket. Bella smiled softly, marveling at the advancements of human technology. She guessed that she was getting enough heat now to roast a turkey all from one blanket. It was heaven!

He hadn't left for work yet, which worried her sickness-addled mind. Charlie Swan was the Chief of Police and the man rarely took a holiday. She only hoped that it wasn't her that was forcing him to either be late for work or worse yet, miss it entirely. Bella knew that she was not even close to peak physical health right now, but she could at least manage to wobble to the bathroom or the kitchen when she was absolutely required to. Well, she could do it if she used the wall for support and kept her eyes glued shut.

She was drawn from her thoughts to Charlie's voice echoing in the kitchen. Despite the throb it caused in her head Bella tuned into what was left of the conversation.

"Nah, Billy. I can't just leave her here. It's my fault. I should have noticed that she had slept in those wet clothes and with how long she was out in the rain last night…" Charlie paused significantly in conversation and Bella had to wonder if he was listening to Billy or if he was remembering her coming in that night. She didn't want to see what his face would betray if she happened to catch him recalling last night's events. It would be either murderous or pity-filled and she wanted to see neither.

"Ah, Billy I don't know if I should do that. I am her father after all…No! I'm not implying that Jake would do anything stupid, but boys will be boys. I don't think she'd even be comfortable with him watching over her like that…Ah, give me a minute Billy. I'll ask." Bella heard the receiver click down on the countertop in the kitchen before watching her father walk out towards her. He seemed surprised that he was actually awake.

"How are you feeling, Bells?" Charlie asked sympathetically, his right hand coming to settle down over her blazing forehead.

"Like Hell warmed over." She croaked, her eyes opened as only slits to prevent any more light from shining into her eyes. Charlie had shut the blinds and drawn the curtains, but even with the overcast skies of Forks and that she was still wincing from the brightness of the room.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." He tucked the blankets more tightly around her, seeming to do it out of habit than anything. "Look, Billy is on the phone. He says Jake offered to come over and help you out today since I can't get off work. Jack is out of town visiting his sister and Don is out sick, so I have to go in. You can probably take care of yourself, but I really don't want you to…"

Bella cut him off there, her head pounding mercilessly with every syllable that slipped from her father's mouth. She set her hand, which was still under the blankets, onto the one that he had set beside her hip when he leaned down to speak to her.

"It's okay, Dad. If it would make you feel better, Jake can babysit me." She gave him a smile that could have passed as a wince. "Besides, I'm sure he has a girlfriend by now. He is twenty after all."

"Sure, Bells." Charlie chuckled softly, most likely taking joy in the fact that she wasn't so sick that she couldn't try to be funny.

As Charlie went back into the kitchen to tell Billy the news, Bella settled further into the sofa and thought about her friend. Jake was older than her by nearly two years now. He'd been a little immature when she'd gone to First Beach so long ago, but for the most part he had been well rounded. Attractive, too. While he had still been growing into his manhood body, his face had shown signs of the pure, exotic, sinfully delicious Native American blood that coursed in his veins. It seemed that most of Jake's friends within the tribe that were male, or at least the ones he'd pointed out to her at the beach, had that same wild beauty. It was no surprise that he'd been taller than her, most everyone that was male was, but he looked like he was still growing. He had admitted himself that he was going through another growth spurt.

She could still remember back to when they were kids. She'd tagged along with him when he'd gone off to adventure with Quil and Embry. They had all had fun most of the time, unless the boys were playing 'catch the squealer'. Bella had taken off running full-speed whenever that particular game was in play. If she was caught, and she usually was, they'd tickle her until she was on the verge of passing out and they'd have to carry her back to the house. She was the youngest of any of them, but that never seemed to matter to them. They'd include he just as easily as any of the other boys in the tribe would include them.

When she'd been forced to leave Forks with Renee it had been hard. She'd managed to call the Black household to say goodbye to Jacob, who'd taken it nearly as hard as she had, but had hidden it better. At first they wrote to each other every few months, all of them had, but as time wore on and their lives went different ways they'd stopped talking.

In coming back to Forks it seemed like the only real change that went on in between them was aging. After First Beach she and Jake had spoken frequently. Sure, she didn't visit La Push very much at all after that, but they'd kept each other informed on the goings-on in their daily lives.

Jake, not surprisingly to her, worked and partially owned the mechanic's station just inside La Push. The man that owned the store, an old-timer, had hired the youth right out of high school and Jacob had proven to be quite the talented mechanic. According to Jacob just two months ago he'd been gifted half the shop along with an apprenticeship from the older man in exchange for the promise that when the shop was fully passed onto him that he would not run it into the ground. Bella smiled softly when she remembered that phone call and how excited Jacob had been.

Jake had told her, too, that he and Embry and Quil had been spending more and more time with Sam and his gang. Sam's gang was doing a lot of good for the tribe if what Jacob said was true. There was four in the group totaled, the leader being Sam, followed by Paul, Jared, and Seth. Seth was the youngest in the group, but still eighteen. They disappeared a lot, but when they were in the peoples' eyes they were always doing something to benefit the tribe or someone within it. Already they had helped to rebuild one of the family's houses due to a fireplace fire burning it down.

The last time she had spoken to Jake had been a week ago on her birthday. He'd joked that she was finally a woman, but stuck in a child's too small body. Had he been right in front of her she would have smacked him upside the head, which was why he'd laughed heartily on his end of the line when she'd grumbled.

In all honesty she missed her friend and wanted to see him…she just didn't want to look and feel like she did now.

"Bella?" Her father's voice snapped her attention completely back to him. Her brows furrowed when she saw him standing right in front of her. Had she been so out of it that she hadn't heard him come up to her? "Are you sure that you'll be all right with Jake here?"

"Uh, yeah." She rasped, trying not to move her body too much under her blankets. "It's fine. I miss him anyway."

"Billy says he'll be here in about half an hour. I have to go now, but if you need me to stay then I'll just…"

"Go, Dad." Bella rolled her eyes behind her eyelids at her father. "I'll be okay for thirty minutes. Just turn the TV on low, please?"

"Sure thing, Bells." She heard her father walk over to the TV, counted five clicks on the side of the television to show that the volume had gone down to the easy listening station, and then his returning footsteps. Almost immediately she felt the remote behind settled beside her. "Keep this close. You may want to watch something else or just turn it off. Call me if you need me, Bella."

"No prob." Bella hummed, already slipping off into blissful sleep with the silence that was overtaking the house. She felt Charlie kiss her overly warm forehead, listened to him leave the house, start his cruiser, and reverse out of the driveway.

Allowing herself to slip off the edge of oblivion slowly, Bella listened to the few sounds that made it past her ear drums. There was the soft flute music playing on the television, the swaying of the trees just outside, the occasional creek of the floors as the house continued to settle in its old age. Once or twice she could have sworn she heard a long-distance howl, but brushed it off as nothing more than fevered delusions.

Bella finally succumbed to sleep when the flute and an accompanying piano reached a crescendo, a faint smile on her lips despite the sickness rolling through her.

* * *

><p>Jacob Black rolled his Harley Sprint the rest of the way up the Swan driveway, his eyes raking over the home before him.<p>

The Swan home was small, maybe not as small as the one he currently shared with his father, but still small. Two bedrooms was all that Charlie and Bella really needed, but whenever he thought of the new family he'd obtained he couldn't help but think that anything less than five bedrooms was tiny.

Scenting the air he had to fight down the urge to snarl. The too sickly sweet smell permeated the air like cheap perfume in a department store. He knew that they were gone, the bloodsuckers were finally gone, but they had migrated around this house. Actually, Jake knew for a fact that one leech in particular practically lived here when Charlie was not aware of it. The others had patrolled enough around the Swan household, which was technically in their jurisdiction since the home resided just outside of Forks' boundaries, to know that one leech was very fond of Bella.

Jake had to grit his teeth at that.

Little Bella Swan…he could still remember her from their childhood. Bella had been a good kid and still was. She had been smart, funny, and cute. He and the other had had not problems letting her tag along to explore with them or just mess around. She'd even helped them prank Old Man Henson by flipping over all of his outdoor furniture. She had consoled him on the anniversary of his mother's death, let him weep in her arms. She'd helped him with taking care of Billy at times. She'd been nearly two years younger than him _and_ a girl and yet she'd been his best friend.

When her mother had taken her away Jake had been devastated. It wasn't until she was gone that he had realized how much he had leaned on her, how much light shown off of her. He'd had a major pity-party that first day she was gone. In fact, they all had. Quil and Embry had been equally attached to her. When she had left they'd all wallowed in their own misery for a time. It had been a hopeful thing that she'd continued to write to them those first few years, no matter how few and far between the letters and the calls were.

He grinned widely when he thought of those letters, each and every one of them tucked away in an emptied shoebox on the top shelf of his closet. She'd sent letters to Quil and Embry, too, he'd found out later. It all came out the day they saw her again at First Beach with her friends from school. After Bella had left they'd all devolved into good-natured ribbing and laughter, remembering back to their childhoods and after Bella had left. For some reason Jake suspected that like him his friends had kept their letters from Bella as well…he wasn't sure why that thought didn't exactly upset him.

Bella had changed quite a lot over the years. They could all see that clearly. She'd grown up both physically and emotionally. She was still a shrimp in size, probably average for another woman at five and a half feet, and had the same color eyes and hair, but she'd definitely grown up. Her hair was longer. It just skimmed over a well rounded posterior, an object of Jacob's undying affection. He had never really been a breast man. It had been difficult to keep his eyes from training onto her sweetly swaying ass that first day. She was still slender, delicately small and fragile, but her figure did not scream anorexic. She was all woman in her curves and proportions. Her face was more exotic, longer and leaner, her eyes inordinately large yet completely at home with her bone structure. Her skin was pale, not so much looking like snow as light cream.

He was not new to women. He'd had girlfriends in middle school and high school. He'd had sexual conquests aplenty, maybe not as many as Paul, but still enough to know his business. He knew what attraction was. He knew what it was like to like a woman's body, but Bella was something different. Almost the instant he'd laid eyes on her he had been embarrassingly erect. His member had been saluting her eagerly, almost like a puppy looking to please. The longer he spoke with her, the longer he heard her soft, sweet voice, the worse his condition became. By the time Bella left he'd been on the verge of completely ruining his reputation by coming in his jeans like an untrained child. He would have never lived it down.

It had been a very near thing.

As it had turned out their friendship had not soured at all over the years. They'd been able to pick up right where they'd left off. They spoke often. He found himself panting after her like an over-eager dog just to hear her voice, to hear her laugh or know he'd made her smile. He'd changed over the years, too, but it seemed that Bella only brought out the best in him.

Setting the bike up against the side of the house Jake made his way for the front door, his mind still elsewhere in time.

He'd changed, in more ways than one, as well. He'd become like the others. Even before that night he'd been slipping into his allotted slot in life. Since he was sixteen he'd been growing up rapidly, shot up over most of the other kids with the exception of Quil and Embry who'd kept up with him. He'd become harder, stronger, even colder emotionally. He was the legendary 'rock' that everyone spoke of. He didn't get riled up. He didn't get broken down. He just settled and stayed calm. Even Sam, who was known for his cool head and iron fist, was second to Jacob in power and authority.

_Guess that's why the second I phased I got bumped to Alpha._ He thought with an inward bark of laughter.

Jacob would never blame Bella for his first phase, it was now welcoming to him, but in a way it was she that had brought on the change. The Cullens, the filthy bloodsuckers, had released the gene in him the second they returned to Forks. It had built inside of him, strengthened him and readied him for the battle it knew was to come, but it had taken something to snap him. He needed that one tiny spark to complete unleash the inferno that had raged inside of him.

When Billy had told him that Bella had gotten hurt on her birthday at the Cullens house he had burst.

The pain had been excruciating the first time. He had felt his bones breaking and reshaping themselves. His skin had been on fire. His insides had felt like acid had been introduced into his bloodstream. When he'd opened his eyes he had no longer been human Jacob. He would never again be the human Jacob. Forever more the wolf would live within him no matter if he walked on two feet in man's skin or ran through the woods on all fours, the wind whispering through his russet colored fur.

Sam had been there. They all had been. He'd been the last to phase. His control had been something of envy and some consternation within the pack. He'd listened patiently as Sam had enlightened him on his new directive in life, all the while running in his wolf form, trying to adapt to the change that he knew instinctively he could never alter. He didn't really want to. The man inside of him was overshadowed by the wolf even in his human form. His wolf, his instincts, made the human in him see that to take away this part of himself would be a kind of suicide. It would be killing a part of himself, a part so vital to his very existence that it was almost frightening.

The wolf was mainly instinct. He hunted. He stalked. He ran. He slept. He fed. The human in him added color and detail, added substance, but the wolf is what made every action real. He felt more acutely now than he ever had before. His emotions were tempered by the wolf. When he was angry he was furious. When he was sad he was overtaken with sorrow. When he was happy he was well beyond the point of simple contentment. What was more was that the wolf was a personification of his very base desires.

Like the others, each and every one of them, he was a dominant male. Jacob may lead their pack, he may be the Prime Alpha, but they were all alpha males. Their wolves were too similar not to be. Despite their personality differences accompanying their varying appearances, they all wanted control. They _needed_ it. Dominance and submission came naturally to the wolf and none of them were overly submissive. The wolf always knew what it wanted…and may the Gods help anyone that stood in the way of what it wanted.

Until he had phased Sam had been serving as the pseudo Alpha to the pack. Sue to birthright it was Jacob's rightful place, but he'd had to fight for it. He had had to prove that he deserved to be Prime Alpha. He'd only had to fight Sam, but since Sam was the first to phase he'd had to fight each and every one of the others to prove his strength. When Jacob had come out of the fight victorious, the others had taken up a submissive posture similar to Sam's, baring their vulnerable throats to him, and signaling that they accepted him as their Alpha.

Just as phasing and running like the wolf he was came so naturally to him, so too did being the Prime. He did not abuse his power, but he made sure that his pack mates knew his standing within the pack, knew who their Alpha was. He made sure they all ran patrol, did their part within the tribe, and served well as men for the rest of the tribe to follow by. Beyond that they were welcome to their own lives.

Still, they'd all found themselves congregating together. Once a pack, always a pack. They were rarely apart from each other. They ran together inside and outside of patrols. It had been at his father's suggestion that they renovate the old cabin just at the edge of the Sea Cliffs that Jacob realized how large his family had grown. Thanks to phasing he now had six brothers…six equally large, wolfish brothers.

The old cabin was actually more like a rather large lodge first constructed years ago by one of the earlier Quileute generations. It was positioned just on the edge of the Sea Cliffs overlooking the sea. The cabin was massive in scale, holding eight bedrooms, though smallish in area, five full baths, a grand kitchen, a sunken living room, and a family room. The place averaged at about seven thousand square feet. They'd all been there in their childhoods. It had been renovated several times over the years, the plumbing and electric kept up to date, but it had been at least ten years since anyone had actually attempted to re-renovate the place. With how their schedules ran and how close they had all become Jake was already setting up plans with the others to get the place up to code so that it could be their pack home. By his estimations they could have the cabin renovated within a month or so.

Stepping up to the door Jacob inhaled once more, his nose burning from the scent of leeches. His tolerance would be tested this day, of that he had no doubt. He thanked his ancestors for his inherent control, otherwise he had little doubt that he'd shift before the hour was out with the desire to hunt and kill something…preferably a vampire.

"Jacob." The voice drew his attention momentarily away from the door and he turned. At the edge of the property nearest the tree line stood Sam. He was clothed in only cut-off shorts, about the only thing any of them could stand without sweating like a suckling pig over a roasting fire. Sam, he knew, stood taller than the others at an inch below seven feet. Jacob was the tallest at exactly seven feet. Their sheer height and muscle mass was needed in order to compensate for the largeness of their wolfen forms.

"What is it, Sam?" He asked almost irritably. He hadn't seen Bella since he'd phased and he'd been deeply upset to discover that she'd gotten ill after the leeches had left. When Charlie had called Billy he'd been present to overhear the conversation, enhanced shape-shifter hearing came in handy, he'd instantly offered to watch after her while Charlie went to work. He wanted to see his friend again, to make sure that she was truly alive after having associated herself with bloodsuckers for so long with his own eyes.

"Are you certain that this is wise?" Sam asked, stepping lightly on the line that was Jacob's…the line between Alpha and the rest of his pack. "You are still new to phasing. While I do not berate your self control, do you really wish to risk the chance of _their_ scent triggering your wolf?"

"I would not risk Bella." With effort Jake was able to keep himself from snarling. As it was, his eyes half-shifted with his wolf. In an instant Sam tipped his head to the side, showing his submission.

"Forgive me, Alpha. I only wished to ensure that everyone was protected."

"Then patrol the house if you must, but do not question my choices again." With that Jacob dismissed his Beta. The other man…wolf…turned back to the forest and disappeared into it as silently as he had appeared.

Sighing, Jacob opened the door to the Swan home…and froze.

He ceased to do anything, see anything, or hear anything beyond inhaling a completely new and pure scent. He could perceive nothing else of his surroundings or of himself. All there was in that moment was that scent.

His muscles tightened as if in preparation of a hunt, his senses heightening to lethal proportions, his primal instincts coming to a head from where he had stored them neatly just beneath his 'human' demeanor. Several feelings warred for his immediate attention; possessiveness, need, elation, protectiveness, and lust so profound that he was nearly brought to his knees on the spot.

Jake closed his eyes briefly and allowed himself to take in that scent fully. It was spicy and sweet, deliciously warm, laced with a sense of coming home. The familiar scent pattern of cinnamon and oranges mixed with something else clean and pure like the sun itself. It was a scent entirely new to him, yet one that he knew would forever be imprinted upon his very soul. An erection that he knew would never truly go away sprung to life within the confines of his jeans. The urge to shift and give in to the urge to hunt down and guard the source of that scent was nearly overwhelming.

He knew the bearer of that scent. The wolf, the _beast_, knew that scent. There wasn't a shred of doubt within his mind.

It was his mate.

The wolf within him, the one that was never too far from the surface, surged into attention. He was not surprised by the feral, claiming growl that erupted from his throat as he continued to take in the glorious scent of his mate. He struggled to keep any part of his body from shifting over, understanding even in his lust-filled haze that it would be a foolhardy endeavor due to the fact that he could do nothing about his mate in wolf form besides track her and protect her. It was a near thing since every molecule of his very being demanded he shift over to collect his mate and guard her life…and the one he knew he instinctively had handed over to her the moment he had inhaled her scent.

He was already moving forward, though he couldn't remember even having stepped through the doorway. The door shut nearly silently behind him as he let the scent lure him in and closer to his mate. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had to get to her. Now.

As soon as he hit the living room he stopped as if hitting a brick wall. Her scent, his mate's scent, permeated the room like a thick fog, and within its center shown her beautiful face. A low purr burst forth through his chest as he set his eyes down onto the sofa and the form of his sleeping mate.

_Bella_.

In his memories of her she had been gorgeous, sexy, drool worthy. What he felt now…it didn't even compare to his earlier thoughts. She was beyond stunning. She was perfection personified. She was a goddess brought down to Earth. He might have winced at his pansy-ass thoughts, called himself whipped and in need of a serious ball-busting for sounding so flowery even internally, but he could not bring himself to think anything else as he looked her over lustfully. For one long, dreadful moment his world spun out of control. He lost sight of everything but her until finally everything returned, only this time nothing seemed the same. Very suddenly everything made sense because everything that was and ever would be to him was _her_.

_Mine!_

He stalked forward slowly, silently, until he was towering over where she lay sleeping. He drew in a breath once more, this time discerning the sickness in it. His wolf whimpered at the harshness it brought to her wonderfully addictive scent. The human part of him was saddened for her, his eyes softening completely as he contemplated everything he was physically and metaphysically able to do for his little mate.

He crouched down low so that his head was beside hers. He could hear the harshness in her breathing. The heat coming off of her was still colder than his own, but closer to it than he was comfortable with. Her skin was paler than he remembered, surely a bad sign. Her lips were chapped and her body was covered with at least two blankets, one of them being electric. Lifting up one corner of the bedding bundled around her he saw pale blue pajamas that covered her arms and legs, wool socks undoubtedly on her tiny feet.

"Jake?" A soft, croaking voice called from just beside his head. His attention jerked that way instantly. He would never again be able to ignore his siren's call…he wouldn't want to.

"Yes. It's me, Bella." He returned in a whisper, scenting her inner pain by the slight variations in her scent. He might have been surprised at that, but with everything that had been happening lately he found it difficult to discredit anything. His pack was the first for over a hundred years and Billy only knew so much through the legends and what was passed down through the generations.

Jacob looked into his little mate's eyes and let himself drown in them for this one moment in time, knowing that every time he looked into her eyes that he would be a slave to them. Her eyes were the palest shade of brown, flecked with gold and green. They showed her every thought, every feeling as if she was wearing them on her sleeve. They made his cock ache even further.

"You cut your hair." She frowned, is hand rising out from under her cocoon to skim her nails through his hair. At shock went through him at the light touch. Without even thinking on it he lifted his hand to her own. The smoothness of her skin met his and he sighed.

"Do you like it?" He asked, knowing that he could do little to change it if she didn't like it, but wanting to please her regardless.

"Yeah. It's still nice." She smiled at him then. His member pushed even further into his jeans at the beauty of it and he was forced to shift his weight or else risk the fly snapping open. She chuckled huskily, her voice obviously hurting her. "You here to babysit me?"

"Always." He promised, settling her hand back under the covers when he felt a shiver snake its way through her frame. He frowned, not liking her sickness, how weak she was and the pain that spiked through her scent.

He stole the remote from her then and turned the television to the Hallmark Movie channel. Bella's eyes drooped considerably until she was barely even looking at him anymore. Shaking his head he marched into the kitchen and filled a glass of water up for her. It was obvious that her throat was inflamed and he was going to see to her care. It was obvious that she was unable to do it and as her mate it was his duty, his _pleasure_, to take care of her.

Tromping back into the room he found her slipping back off into sleep.

"No, no, Bella." He informed her, setting the glass down on the side table before reaching under her with two hands. Bella moaned then, but he ignored it.

"I want to sleep, Jacob." She groused as he slid himself onto the cushion that her head had been lying on only moments before. He tugged and pulled at her until she was propped up slightly against his side, his free hand having wrapped the blankets so firmly around her that she might have resembled a grub worm.

"Not until after you drink something, little one." The endearment fell from his lips easily. He smiled a little before reaching out for the glass of water.

"I'm not thirsty." She argued, trying to move herself back into a horizontal position. He was having none of that. His left arm banded just below her bust to keep her pinned upright as he set the rim of the glass to her lips. She closed them stubbornly.

"I don't care. You may not want to, but you need to. Your throat is raw and this will help sooth it so you can breathe better." With a little more pushing Bella obviously realized that she wasn't going to win against him, especially in her condition, and allowed him to tip the water into her mouth. "Good girl." He purred, a shit-eating grin on his lips.

"Don't patronize me." She coughed when he pulled the now half-full glass away.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Liar."

Jake chuckled softly before settling Bella back down onto the sofa fully, her head pillowed on one of his thighs. He set one hand down onto her stomach over the covers and began to rub it in a slow, circular pattern.

"Go to sleep, Bella. I'll be here whenever you need me." He assured her with his deep baritone, his eyes drinking in her quickly exhausting form. Bella hummed into his thigh before turning her head to tuck her face into his side.

"Missed you, Jake."

"And I missed you my little mate." He purred, the sound sending small vibrations through his chest. He watched the smile widen on her lips only moments before her breathing evened out and her heartbeat began a slow, rhythmic pattern that signaled her drop-off into dreamland.

Jacob looked down silently onto his little mate, his mind free to think without hindrance for the time being since she was asleep and would have no need for him outside of keeping an eye on her.

This little development was not something he had expected. He would not change it, he would not give up his little Bella under any circumstances, but he had not come to the Swan household expecting to find his mate. His father had said that wolves finding their mates were rare. His ancestor Taha-Aki had _imprinted_ along with the rest of his pack, but according to legend the most recent generations that had been made to shift out of necessity had not found their mates. Imprinting…mating…was not something that every wolf got to experience. All of the tribe were told the legends and upon shifting they were given more details into their ancestry, but even the tribe's elders were essentially useless now.

When Sam had phased all the elders had been able to tell him was that the legends were true, that he would continue shifting until his dying days, and that more of the tribe would phase in before everything was said and done. Sam had had to figure everything else out through the wolf. It hadn't been easy for Sam and it hadn't been easy for any of them after him.

There were some things with being a wolf that was easiest to learn. Like most everything with the wolf, stuff happened naturally. Running was beyond calming. It was like an aphrodisiac for them. Hunting and stalking also came easy to the wolf. Already Jacob had fallen prey to the need to hunt and kill more than just the vampires that triggered the wolf in his blood. While he would never harm a human he had certainly felled a couple deer on the reservation. In wolf form he'd been large enough to eat one deer entirely on his own. The other he had brought back home to skin, clean, and cook. There was still plenty of venison in the freezer and the fridge.

Other things, though, grew to be tiresome or just plain horrible. As a pack they shared a collective mind. That made keeping secrets from the others practically impossible. They also had higher metabolisms to compensate for their wolves. They were _always_ hungry. The only time that Jake could claim to being full for most of the day was when he had eaten that deer in wolf form. It would have been a gruesome sight for a human, but as a wolf he salivated over the hunt and kill game. For the others the submission was an issue. They were forced to obey their Alpha's order no matter if they wanted to or not. The last major problem was that in triggering their anger, the wolf was brought to the surface. If any of them became too riled up the wolf would come out fully and they would have no control over their shift. Keeping calm was harder for some of the pack than it was for him, but everyone still fell prey to their more base needs to let the wolf out no matter how in control they were.

Jacob ran his fingers through Bella's long, chestnut tresses. The silky feel of them sent his cock raging again. He wanted to see her hair fanned out around her as he made love to her. He wanted to feel it spilling through his fingers as he gripped it in his hand and pounded into her from behind like a real wolf. He even wanted to see it spilling over her shoulders and breasts as he helped her to ride him to completion.

A low growl infused itself into the purr he'd been keeping up for his little mate. He had to resist the urge to shift to relieve the discomfort in his jeans. He didn't want to wake her up. He'd suffer in relative silence if it meant that she would be at peace.

He had so smirk inwardly when he thought of imprinting. In all honestly 'imprinting' was the fancy, polite term that the non-shifters of the tribe gave to a wolf that had found his life-mate. His mate would be his entire world. There was no denying that. Everything came second to her and her needs. The wolf would demand submission from her, especially in the bedroom, but he would see to it that she wanted for nothing. She would be a spoiled little princess if he had his way…and he would. She wouldn't need to lift a single finger if she didn't want to.

Jake had to grin when he thought on something that neither Bella nor her father would know. Even a lot of the other tribe members were unaware of it. The truth was that Taha Aki, while being a great chieftain and Alpha, was not the first shifter of their tribe. The wolves in their blood descended all the way back to when man had first began to tell their stories on the walls of their homes. Wolves lived long, long lives without their mates if they were not felled in battle. Fortunes were acquired over that time and passed onto the descendants when the wolf no longer wished to prowl the earth.

Jacob and the others were rich men. They were _very_ rich men. He was not certain where all the money had come from or how it had been obtained exactly, but there were accounts set up all over the country and some off-continent places for each of them. With how many shifters hadn't found their mates and lived fruitful lives, many of them away from the tribe, the estimated value of their pack as a whole was near half a billion. A fair portion of that money was in real-estate, investments, and various acquired 'knickknacks' scattered throughout the world in museums or banks. The accounts were updated each time a new pack emerged and their names were added to the ledgers of who could and could not access the money. Only the current pack could take out any amount of the money saved away for them.

He had no doubts that it would be nearly impossible to piddle away all that money in any one of their lifetimes unless they were to donate it all to charities. While they used a lot of the money that they had withdrawn which they had attained through their shifts for the benefit of the tribe they were not going to give away everything their ancestors had saved up for them. When something needed to be rebuilt or constructed for the tribe they used the money from their accounts, but they did not buy frivolously.

_I'm thinking that I might have to rethink using that money._ Jake thought devilishly, his eyes continually running over his new mate's form. She deserved whatever he could give her in every capacity. She would never want for anything. He would make sure of it.

But, first thing was first.

He had to get her better. His mate was ill and he did not like it. He did not like the scent of sickness clouding her deliciously cloying scent. He did not like her looking more fragile than she did naturally. She was hurting and weak and he did not want her suffering.

When Charlie returned he would see if he could take her back to the reservation to take care of her. He wanted her near him and with the Chief being gone to work most of the time Bella would be alone with no one to look after her. He'd make Charlie see that the best place for Bella would be in his home where she could get the best care he could provide.

If Charlie didn't agree…

Well, he'd figure out how he was going to work around that if it came down to that. The wolf wanted its mate near him at all times and the man was not about to give up the chance to be with his beautiful little one just because the Chief of Police was a stubborn mule.

She'd be coming back to La Push with him no matter what.

Jake just hoped that he wasn't going to have to fight Charlie to get what he wanted.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Notes<span>****:** Here is the second chapter. I wanted to make sure that it got posted with the first since it contains vital information in regards to the changes I have made in the book (New Moon) to my own story. I hope that this story goes over well enough with my readers. If it does, I'll keep posting chapters.

Please, if you like this story at all, review. If you do not like it please give me your reasons. I will not delete this story or alter it just to please everyone, but I would like to know why or why not people like this story. Anyway, I hope that these first two chapters have at least caught some interest.

As always, keep your language clean when you review and do not insult my readers. If you have a problem, please inform me of it and I will see what I can do. Do not just shoot off at the mouth to get a rise out of me or my readers. Thank you for your time.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	3. Chapter 3: The First Step

Chapter Three

Bella roused from her sleep drugged mind by the scent of hot chocolate. She attempted to stretch, but found herself swaddled tightly in layers of blankets. Opening her gunk-caked eyes she was rewarded with the sight of a massive, russet skinned hulk in her kitchen doorway.

"Jake." She rasped with a wide smile on her lips.

She'd thought she'd dreamt him earlier. He had been too good to be true and she was suffering from a fever. It seemed like the only logical thing to think that he hadn't really been there.

Jacob's attention zeroed in on her and she felt her nether regions tighten at the look he was giving her with his too dark brown eyes. They were almost black with their intensity. She was not new to lustful looks. She may not think of herself as attractive, but the male species seemed to be under the impression that she was stunning. The look that Jake was giving her now, though, was something entirely new. He had a look in his eyes like he would give anything to eat her alive. She felt almost _hunted_.

Surprisingly, she wasn't turned off by the thought.

Her own eyes raked over him now that she had some sense back and had to force down the instinctive gulp. Jake had grown! He was massive. He would tower over her if she were to stand up next to him by a few heads at least. If her sizing skills were worth any snuff she'd say that he was right up to seven feet tall, which she was certain was impossible for a human body to reach. Thickness wise he was at least three times her weight and corded thickly with muscle. He had lopped his hair off into a sexy-as-hell spiky-due. He looked older now, aged maybe five or six years, but deliriously attractive. If she had had any less self control she was certain that she would have started drooling by now.

"It's good that you're awake." Jacob's deep, rumbling voice sent a wave of goosebumps down her spine until they settled somewhere in the vicinity of her crotch. In a few strides he came to stand before her with his long, tree-trunk legs right in front of her face. His jeans hugged neatly to his thighs and she had an absurd thought as to how they hugged his butt. If his back was even close to being as appealing as his front then she would be spoiled for men for the rest of her life.

"Bella?"

"Huh?" Her head snapped up to look into his face, but the sudden movement caused the room to begin a dizzying spin. Her eyelids snapped closed and she breathed through her nose to avoid the nausea churning in her gut. This was why she never went on the Tilt-O-Whirl. The spinning always seemed to make her sick to her stomach.

"Oh, Bella, honey." Jake purred, the sound instantly pouring into her bloodstream like liquid fire and soothing her stomach. His hands worked simultaneously to rub soothing circles into her stomach and kneed her temples. The hand he had placed over her forehead was hot even to her, but she hummed at the feel of it, pushing her head more firmly into his palm. "Are you all right now?"

Her eyes eased open slowly to find Jake's face much closer to hers now that he had crouched down to rub away her misery. She let a small grin slip across her lips as she stared at him.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She croaked then flushed in embarrassment at the sound of her voice. He chuckled at her then. "Uh, sorry. I'm not exactly at my best right now."

"You're sick, Bella, there's no shame in that." He informed her simply, his eyes dancing with something more than just lust. She saw other emotions there, but could not readily name them. Before she could open her mouth to voice something, _anything_ to get him to break his unwavering stare she felt her body tilting upwards.

"Whoa!" She all but screamed, would have if her voice had been in any serviceable order, as Jacob propped her upright. H set pillows to either side of her as if they were bumpers in case she tipped over. He then unraveled the top half of her cocoon so that her arms could be free. His hands grabbed onto her own and she could feel his heat leaching into her. She frowned at him, knowing that something was wrong here if _she_ could feel his incredible heat. "Are you still sick, Jake?"

Even as she asked the question she knew that the answer would be 'no'. He looked too healthy. There were no shadows under his eyes. He was not sweating or shivering. He didn't remotely look like a sick person or act like someone that was fighting alongside their immune system.

"No, Bella."

"You're so warm." She mumbled, her eyes raking over every spare inch of his face. As she raised her hands within the large paws that were Jacob's hands he allowed her to set her palms on his cheeks. Her thumbs traced over the arcs of his neatly curved eyebrows. That purr, whatever it was, boomed out deeper from within his barrel chest as she continued to caress his overly heated face. "Why are you so warm, Jake?"

He cleared his throat then, the purring cutting off with a hint of a growl. Bella quickly found herself scowling at the loss of the sound. It had been pleasant even if she didn't understand it and having it go away was like a slap to the face.

"Please don't frown, little one." Jacob gave her a lopsided grin and she felt her tummy flip just a little bit. "I'm not sick. I'll explain later, okay? I promise. Right now it's time for you to get something in your stomach."

"I'm not hungry." She grumbled irritably. She tugged her hands out of his, entirely aware of the fact that the only reason she was able to do so was because he had _allowed_ her to.

"Too bad." He shot back, rising to his full, intimidating height. Her jaw went a little slack as she looked up and up and up into his slightly hardened face. "You need to eat to get better, Bella. I'd appreciate it if you didn't act like a child and just let me take care of you."

"I'm not a child!" She shouted, the words cracking due to her tender throat. Her hand shot towards her neck to caress away the sudden burn there.

"I know you are not. That does not mean, though, that you don't have the capacity to act like one." She shot him a death glare, but he paid her no heed. He just continued to smirk down at her. "Sit tight, honey. I'll bring out your lunch in just a minute."

"I said I'm not hungry, Jake." Bella called after him, the petulance in her tone unmistakable. He had the nerve to laugh at her. Once he was in the kitchen she got up the courage to stick her tongue out like the 'child' he had accused her of acting like.

Deciding that it was no use arguing with him…Jacob was not the kind of man you could win against even in prime health…Bella allowed herself to fall back into the cushions of the sofa and semi-focus on the television. Some movie about an obsessive woman stalking another woman's husband was playing.

Though some of her attention was on the movie Bella was focused internally. She grimaced at her unabashed thoughts towards Jacob upon waking. Edward had just left with his family. He'd just broken her school-girl heart as easily as James had been able to break her leg. She wanted to sob for being such a whore as to pant after Jacob so soon.

She had to admit that she had found him attractive since returning to Forks, but this was ridiculous. It wasn't like she was unaware of the lustful thoughts and feelings heating her blood even more than the fever. She may have been young, but she was still a female. And Jacob was a hot-blooded, drop dead gorgeous male with the words 'fuck me' flashing across his dark, bedroom eyes. She knew that if she bothered to think about the feeling in the pit of her gut that she'd find her panties beginning to saturate with the natural lubricant her body released in the presence of another body it would like to get to know more intimately. It was a feeling she had felt once or twice with Edward, but this was not right. The second she had seen Jacob she had begun to grow warm and deliciously uncomfortable.

She wished that she could inhale through her nose and take in his smell. She could still remember what he smelled like months and months ago when she'd been to First Beach with the other kids from Forks High School. He'd smelled like Sandalwood and pure male musk. It was a heady scent that had at the time been slightly mortifying to her. She'd never truly understood pheromones or the impact of certain scents on a person until she'd smelled him. She would have bottled up his scent and sold it on the black market if she could have.

_I would have been loaded._ She thought dismally.

It bothered her now that she was so shallow that she could brush Edward off as easily as she was doing. It shouldn't matter that Jacob Black was possibly the hottest guy she had ever met in her entire life. She had just lost her first true crush. She should be more devastated and wallowing in her grief. Actually, she should be enjoying the company of her two favorite men in the entire world until nightfall.

_Ben and Jerry's_.

"Bella?" Jake's voice snapped her out of her thoughts to find the behemoth looming over her once more. He had a plate in his right hand, his left covering her forehead. His lips were pulled down into a worried frown. "What are you thinking about so hard, honey? You're on the verge of crying."

"No I'm not." She denied, turning her face away from his hand no matter how comforting the gesture was. The plate was set down onto the side table with a 'clank' and she felt her chin snapped up between two large fingers. Her eyes were wide as she gawked at a now peevish looking Jacob.

"Don't lie to me, little one." He warned, his tone darker than anything she had ever heard from him before. "I can smell it."

"What?" Bella furrowed her brows. When she tried to pull her head from his grasp she found that his hold was unbreakable…unless she wanted to have her jaw unhinged. "What do you mean you can _smell_ it?"

He sighed at that moment and released her chin carefully. A calloused hand ran through his too-short hair nervously. "I said I'd explain later and I will. Not now, though. You need to get better first."

_Is he trying to convince me of that or himself?_ She thought to herself.

He took his seat beside her on the sofa before transferring the plate of food onto her covered lap. Looking down onto it she found scrambled eggs and boxed macaroni and cheese. She raised an eyebrow at her friend before he beamed broadly at her.

"It'll feel better going down your throat and settle in your stomach better than any spicy or overly greasy food would. Now eat up." The tone he used made Bella internally flinch. The tone indicated that he would take no lip from her and there would be repercussions if she decided to go against his orders. Her father hadn't had to use that voice very much when she was little, but she _had_ heard it before.

"I'm not hungry." She tried for a final time, hoping that he would drop the subject and let her be. She may have been able to open her eyes now without feeling like she had a front-row seat to watching fireworks go off, but she wasn't one-hundred percent. She was _not_ in the mood to eat.

"You _need_ to eat something, honey." There was that patronizing tone again. "You don't have to eat it all, but you need to get something into your stomach. Do you really think that I'm going to let you make yourself sicker? What kind of…friend would that make me?" Was she imagining things or did she hear him wince when he said 'friends'?

She relented after a tense moment. She knew that he was right. If she wanted to get better she was going to have to keep her energy up as much as she could and the only way she could do that was to eat and sleep regularly.

Jacob's grin only widened when he saw that she had given in to his 'request'.

Bella ate slowly, knowing that she would get full faster if she ate that way. Since she really wasn't hungry in the first place she had only managed to eat half of the eggs and a quarter of the macaroni and cheese before she had to stop. Jake glanced at her periodically as she ate, probably trying to make sure that she didn't try to move the food around the plate to simply look like she'd eaten anything, and glowered when she set her fork down onto the plate a final time.

"Eat more."

"No." It wasn't unkind or argumentative, just an unchangeable fact. She wasn't going to give in this time. She ate what she could and he would be satisfied with that if it killed her.

"Bella," the warning lilt in his voice came back and she performed her own incredible likeness of a growl.

"I said 'no' Jake. I really am full. I'll be hungry later, but not now. If you try to make me eat this now I'll just get sick and throw it up." He took a long minute to size up her words before he nodded his head in assent, took the plate from her, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Bella pushed one side of her retaining wall made of pillows off the side of the sofa and allowed her body to flop sideways until she was horizontal once more. Her hands tugged incessantly until she'd managed to pull her blankets back up over her shoulders. In an instant the heat was back and warming her slightly shivering form. Her eyes settled onto the television to watch the two women confront each other violently.

She was startled when she felt her feet being hoisted upwards and then settled back down. The blankets were unfolded, her feet de-socked, and the cold air kissed her sensitive flesh. She hissed, ready to do bodily harm to her russet-skinned friend, but then her feet were being massaged by blissfully warm, hard hands.

"Ahhh." She sighed, her lids closing in peace. Jake's answering chuckle made her giggle in return.

"Feel good, little one?"

"Feel free to do that all day." She invited smoothly. His hands were like molten lava, yet had the gentleness of a mother holding her newborn child. The feel of his thumbs working into the tendons and small muscles of her heels and arches sent pleasurable tingles of a different kind zinging all the way up to her core. If she had had any more strength she might have done something to that affect, but she was out of commission for the time being.

"Whenever you want, Bella. Whenever you want." He swore softly, his nearly onyx eyes roving over her. She may not have been able to see them with her eyes closed, but she could _feel_ them. Her slit moistened a little at the knowledge that all of his intensity was focused onto her.

Bella let herself be absorbed into the sensations flooding her. For this one moment in time she would allow herself to feel good. She wouldn't let her self-depreciation take control. She wouldn't think of herself as a whore no matter how Jacob made her feel. She would just let things be. She would let him take care of her and make her feel good. The rest would come later when she was alone and she could cry in peace. Right now she wanted contentment and she was going to get it.

For an unperceivable amount of time she drifted in and out of consciousness. At some point she was dimly aware of Jacob switching his message higher to her calves and then her thighs. After that he had begun to rub away the tension in her arms and shoulders. By the time she came around for the final time she felt his finger tapping at her lips.

"Open up, little one." In her euphoria she didn't have the sense to deny him. Once her lips parted she felt two tiny capsules being set into her mouth. Her head was quickly propped up and a glass of orange juice being placed to her lips. She drank slowly and felt the capsules go down. "Tylenol PM." Jake informed her once she had turned her head away from the proffered glass.

"Thank you." She whispered as she felt herself being lifted smoothly, then settled down onto two wide, hard appendages. Cracking her eyelids open she could see that she was being cradled in the man's arms and balanced in his lap. With her head tucked up under his chin she found herself oddly comfortable despite his hardness. The heat radiating off of him only made it better.

"This is nice." She hummed.

"Is there anything you want to watch, Bella?" Jake asked, his tone low. She felt his purr down to her very core and the muscles in her center spasmed with need. It was an effort to ignore it.

"'_Dreamcatcher_' is on the On Demand. I haven't seen it in a while." She responded sluggishly. She dared a glance up at him through her lashes and froze when she found him smoldering down at her. Trying to break the sudden tension she continued. "You can pick something else if you want, though. I'll probably fall asleep anyway. I don't want you to have to watch something that you don't want to watch. You're already doing me a big favor by watching over me as it is. I mean, you shouldn't have to…"

She was cut off by a thick finger being pressed against her lips. Jake was beaming down at her; his face looking to have been cracked in half it was so wide. "It's no problem, little Bella. Besides, I'm enjoying your company immensely."

Bella snorted in a very unlady-like fashion. "Yeah right. No one likes babysitting a sick person."

"I'm not babysitting you, Bella. I'm taking care of you." He lifted her up until her forehead was close enough to his mouth to kiss her temple. When he set her back down onto his lap her jaw was hanging slack. "And I very much enjoy taking care of you."

She wanted to argue that point, she really did, but it wouldn't have been right. He was watching after her out of the kindness of his own heart. She didn't need to be belittling him.

"How have you been, honey?" Jake asked out of the blue once he'd flicked '_Dreamcatcher_' on. She knew that he wasn't referring to her past few weeks in general since their last communication. He wanted to know about last night. Bella flinched inwardly, but figured she might as well get used to telling the story. It was no use trying to hide what happened. Enough people had called last night to figure out that she had taken the Cullen's departure hard.

She figured she'd go for humor anyway. "Besides last night? I was doing good."

"Did he hurt you?" The steel in his voice was shocking. She focused her full attention onto his larger self. When he showed no apparent physical aggression or signs that he might break something right away she decided to answer him.

"Not physically. My pride stings and my heart's in shambles, but in time I'll recover." She laughed mirthlessly, the hollowness echoing in the relatively silent room. "Guess every girl has a hard time losing her first love."

"You loved him?"

Bella was stunned that Jake seemed surprised by this. She frowned at him. "Of course I did. I wouldn't have stuck with him if I didn't feel at least remotely attached to him and he had proven to me that he cared for me just as deeply. It wasn't true love, but it was close. Edward was my first real crush. I fell for him hard."

Jacob's lips were pursed in a thin line. He was troubled. "He just didn't…suit you, Bella. I guess it's hard to believe that you could really like him like that."

"He was good to me, Jake. We were good to each other."

Jacob was pensive for a long moment, his arms stiff around her. Without thinking Bella raised her hand from under the blankets and began to caress circles into his chest through his emerald green t-shirt. The purring that he had done before rose an octave and she giggled.

"What is that, Jake? The purring?" She expected the answer he gave, but she had had to ask anyway.

"Later, Bella. When you're…"

"..better. I know." With a dejected huff she let her head fall back under his chin. Her eyes trained onto the screen, but she kept her attention on the man whose lap she was sitting on. "What about you? I hadn't even heard you were sick until last night."

"Sorry about that." He apologized, his big hands rubbing up and down her right arm and leg, the two extremities not cuddled up into his body. "It was the night of your birthday. I came down with a fever and things got crazy after that. This is actually the first moment of peace I've had for a week."

"And you have to spend it with me? Poor you." He growled, the sound striking her libido like a match to dry kindling.

"Don't you dare say anything, Isabella." Her eyes widened fractionally. _Nobody_ used her full name unless they were pissed off at her or they didn't know her preference. "So help me, Bella, if I even suspect you thinking anything bad about yourself again I'll turn you over my knee and paddle your ass. You have no idea of the extent of my feelings for you, Bella, and I won't have anyone demeaning you…not even yourself."

Her mouth opened several times to say something…_anything_, but nothing came out. With a distinct click of her teeth smacking together she settled for silence. This was a new Jacob. The Jacob she'd walked down the beach with had been more carefree. She'd felt something in the air around him, some caged energy, but this was new. That energy was out or at least sitting at his heels. Somehow he seemed more powerful and more in control. He seemed older.

Damn. She couldn't believe that she was having this strong reaction to him.

She'd never liked cocky young men. She didn't like guys who had no clue about life and what went on outside of their own lives. Mike was like that. He was young and still learning. Bella wanted a guy that knew what he wanted and went for it. She liked decisive men. Always second-guessing herself made her want to have a guy that simply knew what needed to be done and got it done. Too many guys her age were even younger than their physical age in maturity and that did not fly well.

Despite only being twenty years old Jake radiated wisdom and power beyond his years. He'd been attractive to her back on the beach but now he was near irresistible!

That single thought gave her pause and she all of a sudden needed to voice a concern that she knew would not go away unless she asked it.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Jake?"

The question took him by surprise. She could see it in his eyes. She needed to know. Surely he couldn't still be unattached with how perfect he always seemed to be? If he was single there had to be some flaw, some great hidden secret that was keeping the girls at bay. She didn't think anything could be bad enough to keep him from having to watch his back every time he stepped out of his own home in order to keep a flock of women from pouncing on him.

His booming laughter shook her in his lap.

"No! No way in Hell, Bella!" He was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. He hugged her tightly against his wide chest and continued to hoot until he had exhausted himself of it. Once he was done and could breathe once more he gave her an indulgent look. "I haven't had a girlfriend since I was in school and even then it was never too serious. Females can't normally hold my attention for long."

The glance he gave her then suggested that she might be the exception to the rule.

"I hope you're not seeing anyone, either." She scolded with a hint of a blush. "Because if you are I think that the way you're holding me right now might be construed as cheating. And inappropriate."

Bella gasped as she was suddenly shifted in Jacob's hold. Her arms reached upward to brace herself on his broad shoulders. He positioned her fluidly so that she was straddled across his thick waist; the only thing separating she and him were their clothes. The blankets were opened so that they only covered her back and shoulders, his chest and abdomen warming her front. His meaty hands settled firmly onto her hips and gripped them tightly.

"Wha-what are you doing?" She demanded shakily, her wide eyes meeting his own blazing ones. She gulped at the pure, raw desire shining in them.

"Would you be jealous if I had another woman, Bella?" He rumbled out. The vibrations sent a warm wave of desire washing through her. "Would you want to claw her eyes out with your cute little claws?"

"N-no."

"Liar."

As he shifted up into the V of her legs she gasped. His hardened erection pressed firmly into her crotch directly over her entrance. She just barely resisted sighing at the glorious feeling of his seemingly massive shaft rubbing against her covered clit. It was a near thing.

"Don't worry, little one. You'll see very soon what you mean to me. _Very_ soon." He promised in a deep, gravelly voice that oozed sex.

Before she could fully comprehend what was happening she felt his lips connecting with her own. Her senses all centered onto him and the sensations he aroused within her. His mouth devoured hers with such fervor that she might have thought he was starved for her. She could taste him. Hot-chocolate, something like mint, and an entirely male flavor that had her quivering. Automatically she responded with a heat all her own.

Her right hand cupped the back of his head to keep his mouth attached to hers while the other clawed into his neck. Jacob snarled into her mouth and devoured her. The world faded away like a call on the wind. She let herself fall into a blessed haze induced by one drunkenly slow kiss after another.

Oh God! She had never known it could be this good!

His teeth, almost sharp to her overactive senses, nipped and bit at her lips until she'd opened her mouth to allow his tongue in. His flavor was uniquely him and reminded her of home. His own need raged within her. Liquid heat like honey burned through her veins. Her hips undulated into his erection even though she knew that he could not pierce her as she so wanted him to.

She moaned into his mouth and he ate it up. One of his hands rose to hold her back tightly to his chest and prevent a retreat while his other hand cupped her ass, hard. Her nipples beaded into his rock-hard Pecs. Lights spun behind her eyes as she gripped him as closely to her as she possibly could get him. She wanted to fall into him. She wanted never to escape him.

It was him that pulled away despite her tight grip and she was left panting for air. Before he pushed her head down into the crook of his shoulder she saw something dark and nearly frightening in his eyes. She could see his lust, but also a dark, haunting need within him that had her heart rate beating even more rapidly despite no longer being in the addictive lip lock.

"Holy shit, Bella." Jacob growled, his breathing equally uneven. It pleased her to know that she wasn't the only one left panting.

She didn't have the wherewithal to even think of uttering anything besides a contented sigh. Jake shifted under her and she noticed that there was a distinct wetness between them. She flushed so completely that she felt the blood course all the way down into her breasts which were still tingling up against his chest. She'd been so aroused that her natural lubrication had wetted right through her panties, pajama bottoms, and into his jeans. She groaned abashedly.

"Shh. It's okay, little one." Jacob cooed into her ear, his hot breath sending a new set of chills down her spine. One of his hands cupped the back of her head as hers had done to his only moments before while the other stroked her back relaxingly. "There is nothing to be embarrassed for. I was just as taken by you as you were for me."

"We shouldn't have done that." She replied breathlessly.

"And why not?"

"Because…" She didn't know how to voice her thoughts without sounding like a total bitch. Or a whore.

"Because?" He prodded, his warm hands still working to calm her as if she was a skittish foal. Bella bit her lip, held her breath, and then exhaled. She could do this.

"Because we're friends. That's it. I don't want to lose you because of this. I can't…I wouldn't be able to stand it if I lost you, too." Tears leaked from her eyes and onto his shirt, but she couldn't pull her head away to prevent it from getting saturated due to his restraining hand on the back of her skull.

"Shh." He shushed her quiet sobs, his once stroking arm banding tightly around her to cuddle her as close as physically possible. "Calm down. Shh. You won't lose me, little mate. You'll never be without me again."

"No." She shook her head as much as she was able, her voice now scratchy because of the choking sobs seeking to be free of the confines of her chest. So consumed in her inner grief that she never noticed Jake's slip in words, how he'd called her 'mate' or implied that he would never leave her. "He left! He left! You will, too!"

Jacob shifted her then and rocked her silently, his lips occasionally kissing her temple while his hands massaged her arms and legs. She cried into him, her sorrow of losing her first real love and her possible loss of her best friend because of her own whorish actions taking her over completely. Her hands gripped so tightly onto the front of his shirt that her nails dug through until they pierced the flesh of her palms.

Jake let her cry herself into exhaustion before standing with her in his arms, turning, and settling her fully onto the sofa. He bent forward to place a chaste, almost brotherly kiss to her swollen lips. He brushed her hair out of her face with care. His eyes held sympathy for her plight, that she could see, but she also saw determination, a healthy dose of adoration, and possessiveness that would have unnerved anyone else.

"I'm not going anywhere, Bella." He assured her, swaddling her tightly into the blankets once more. His eyes shone with his intent even as his hand fell to cup just above crotch and sensitive clit. She could feel his heat even through the blankets. "Make no mistake, Bella, I intend to be more than a friend to you. I will not leave you, little one. You will be mine and I will be yours, but for now you need to rest."

"But Jacob…" She whimpered only to have his hot lips press back onto hers. She was effectively silenced as the languid, chocolate-mint flavored kiss fried all of her synapses. When he pulled away she knew that her eyes would be glazed over because her sight was blurry with the exception of his face.

"No 'buts', Bella. Sleep now. I'll be here when you wake."

She really didn't have the willpower to fight him on this. She watched him stalk silently from the room into the kitchen before exhaling deeply. Almost as soon as she began to breathe in again she was asleep, the memory of his possessive touch creating a warm glow in her so strong that it eclipsed the pain that Edward had brought upon her heart.

* * *

><p>Jacob paced in the kitchen, his eyes in half-shift as he relived the sweet, blissful moments with his little mate straddling his thighs.<p>

He had been harder for her than he had ever been for any woman. He'd been tempted to rip her bottoms off of her as she ground her wet pussy into him, unzip and unbutton his fly, and jam his engorged cock straight into her welcoming heat. He knew, though, that if he had done so that she would have had more regrets than she did now. He also wouldn't have been able to control himself. His wolf wanted her as much as the man did, maybe more, and the wolf wouldn't have retreated until he had fucked her so hard and so full that she wouldn't be able to walk for a week without assistance.

She had felt so _good_ curled up into him. His wolf had been howling at her nearness. He'd been even more taken with her when she'd tried to keep control of him, been demanding by holding his head to her. She wouldn't have been able to keep him there if he hadn't wanted to be there, but having a little mate that would challenge him had his erection flaming anew. She could be submissive, he had seen it in every single movement she made, but her fire would drive him wild. She would disobey orders, he knew, and she would demand in the bedroom. He'd look forward to showing her who was Alpha. She would never be cowed, but he'd enjoy her begging while it lasted.

And she _would_ beg before he was through with her.

He knew instinctively that he was made for her pleasure, just as she was made for his. He would bring her to orgasm many, many times. If her kiss was any indication he was going to have to keep his eyes open otherwise the little hellcat would make him come before he could even sink himself into her. She was hot for him.

But she was fighting it.

Damn! He cursed inwardly, wanting to shift and run off his pent-up energy. He couldn't, though. His mate was near and she might need him. She was in a weakened state right now and he wouldn't risk her making herself sicker or getting injured because of his negligence.

Needing to do something to keep from going back out into the living room to get a replay of what had just happened between them he set about cleaning the kitchen up of the limited mess he'd made in making her lunch.

A frown marred his face as he recalled the amount of food she'd eaten. He'd make sure that she would eat more at dinner. She didn't eat enough to keep a bird alive let alone a sick, human body. He'd hand feed her if necessary. She needed her energy to get better…and then later to keep her stamina up for all the extracurricular activities he had planned for them. He didn't doubt that there would be other times. She was timid now, but she'd give in to her desires sooner or later and when she did he'd be there waiting.

_I hope it is sooner rather than later. My cock won't be able to take this kind of punishment much longer._

As he cleaned, Jacob thought of ways to get Charlie to agree to allow Bella to stay with him and Billy while she was sick. He would not leave her alone. Not now. Not ever. Come Hell or high waters, he would have her living with him before the end of a week. Charlie was not going to stand in his way.

He couldn't just kidnap her. Billy and Charlie may have been best friends, but Charlie was still a father and the Chief of Police. Jake was not stupid. If he was arrested for taking Bella with him then he would be forced to be away from her longer. That just was not acceptable. His wolf wouldn't allow him to be away from her for longer than necessary and only then when it was absolutely impossible to avoid.

Jake knew that all he could do was try and convince Charlie that the best place for Bella would be with him, where someone could take care of her. Charlie was no fool. He couldn't take off of work simply because his daughter was sick. His position wouldn't allow it. He would know that Bella was in no condition to look after herself properly. Surely he'd trust his best friend and best friend's son to look after her wellbeing in his stead.

He just wouldn't tell Charlie that she would not get the opportunity to be out of his keeping ever again. She was his mate, after all.

Decision made, Jake finished up with the dishes and then returned to the living room. Bella was sound asleep on the sofa, her sweat-laden hair cascading down over the side of the seat cushion. With her pert little nose and bow-shaped lips parted ever so slightly, Jacob couldn't help but think she was the most beautiful, adorable creature on the face of the planet. He narrowly resisted walking over to her to rub his hands over her too soft cheeks.

Shaking his head clear, or at least as clear as it was going to get, he marched himself up to her bedroom. Although he'd never been there before he was easily able to trace her scent back to where it was collected most.

Once he opened her door he snarled. He could smell that leech in her room. It was older, a clear indication that he had not been in her room in at least a few days, but it still made his wolf's hackles rise. He didn't want the bloodsucker anywhere near his mate, past, present, or future. His scent nearly masked her own decadent one and he had to fight down the fury rising in his gut. He would shift in her room if he didn't calm down.

Breathing through his mouth in a steady rhythm he was soon able to bring his wolf to heel, though it paced restlessly in his mind. It wanted to come out and kill the bloodsuckers that had inhabited the town of Forks or at the very least curl up beside its mate, its head perched protectively over her flat stomach.

Shaking his massive frame like the canine he was, Jacob began to collect some of Bella's things into a gym bag he found in her closet. He packed several pairs of jeans, a few t-shirts, two sets of her pajamas, and undergarments aplenty. He smirked when he caught sight of her lacy bras and panties. He couldn't have been more thrilled that his little mate had a sexy, _naughty_ inner soul.

He also took her backpack and emptied it of its contents in order to pack her bathroom supplies. He found that she shared a bathroom with her father. It wasn't surprising. Like he had thought earlier the house was small. He grabbed up her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash along with her toothpaste, toothbrush, and hairbrush. He was pleased to see that she wore no perfume. With such sharp senses any kind of perfume was incapacitating to him and his brothers in a large enough dosage. If they could smell medicine within the human bloodstream, then they could without a doubt smell perfume.

_Paul's dumped girls for wearing perfume._ He thought with a bit of a laugh. Paul was the womanizer of the group, probably had more women than most of them could count, but Jacob had seen into his head. Paul wasn't a bad guy. He was misunderstood and acted out in the best way he knew how. He could only be happy that they other wolf chose sex as his method of finding peace instead of hurting others or himself.

Once he had gathered everything he could think of pertaining to Bella's immediate needs he trudged back to her bedroom and tossed her loaded backpack onto the twin bed alongside the duffel bag. Once Charlie got home and he had a chance to convince the older man to give Bella over into his keeping he'd gather her two bags, put them into the back of her truck with his Harley, and then bundle Bella up for the ride out to La Push. It was cold in Washington, even colder out by the coast where the Reservation sat, and he wouldn't have her shivering especially with her condition.

Satisfied, he made his way back downstairs, sat onto the floor beside his mate's head, and watched the movie still playing on the television. Charlie would be back within a few hours around five o'clock and they had a deal to make.

* * *

><p>Jacob roused from a semi-conscious sleep to the sound of a car pulling up outside the Swan house. Raising his head into the air he inhaled deeply. His mate's scent clouded his sense for a long second. She was still deeply asleep. He could not smell anyone else since whoever was coming up the driveway was still in their vehicle. His ears trained specifically on the sound of the engine and he exhaled softly when he registered the sound as one he knew.<p>

Charlie was home.

He stood then and stretched out his muscles. His gaze darted down to his mate when she mumbled a little in her sleep. Her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids and her brow was furrowed in concentration. A smirk found its way to his lips when he realized that she was dreaming. He bent down slowly and kissed the slight downturn of her lips away. When he pulled back he found her rolling her head towards him as if seeking further contact.

"Easy." He purred to her, rolling her slowly so that she was closer to the backrest of the sofa and at no risk of falling off the edge of the cushions. He had wrapped her up tightly enough into the blankets to prevent her from doing anything besides sleeping and he really didn't want to be at fault if she couldn't break her own fall if she were to take a nosedive. Even a little paper cut on her pristine alabaster skin would not be acceptable.

Jacob straightened as he heard Charlie shut the cruiser door and make his way up to the front of the house. He moved to meet the older man there. By the time he had the door open Charlie was up the front steps. His eyes read surprise that Jake was even standing there.

"Hello Jacob." Charlie greeted gruffly, yet not unkind. Jake inclined his head before opening the door fully to allow the man in. "How is she?" He asked once he was over the threshold.

"She's sleeping. She's been sleeping most of the day." He informed Charlie simply as he shut the door behind them.

"That's good."

Never accuse men of mixing words. It was one of the reasons Jacob enjoyed being a male. He wasn't clouded by emotions even if the wolf responded greatly to them. Females tended to be ruled by their emotions and those emotions made their responses overly descriptive and nonsensical. In truth he wondered how the female of the species was even able to survive day to day with how hectic their minds were.

Jacob followed Charlie into the living room and watched him intently as he crouched down next to his mate. His wolf was tempted to growl at having another male so close to its mate, but knowing that this man was her father appeased him a great deal. He wouldn't have any problems, however, in gutting the man if he did anything to disturb Bella.

"She's still got a fever." Charlie announced sadly. Jake nodded.

"It's gone down, though. When I first got here she was burning up. At least now she's closer to normal temperatures."

Chief Swan grunted noncommittally before sauntering into the kitchen. Jacob leaned his impressive girth against the doorjamb to watch the other man work. Charlie glanced over his shoulder at him as he unfastened his gun holster.

"You've grown."

"Yep."

"What's Billy feeding you?"

"Meat."

Charlie rounded on him with a glower. He crossed his arms over his chest, but Jake paid no attention to the show of dominance. Charlie couldn't win against him. Unless he got _really_ lucky with his gun, Jake would never lose if it were to come down to a fight. He didn't expect it would come to that, though.

"What do you have to say, boy?"

He chuckled then, enjoying the show of power. He may top the other man, but he still respected the effort. "I have a proposition for you. It's about Bella."

"Of course." A guffaw.

"She's not well. We both know this. We also know that she's incapable of taking care of herself at this point in time and so are you." When Charlie opened his mouth to rebuke Jake narrowed his eyes and held up a staying hand. Not surprisingly the Chief shut his mouth. His Alpha influence was not unnoticed by even humans, though they didn't understand their near immediate submission to him. "I'm not trying to get a rise out of you, Charlie. It's just a simple fact. You have a department to run. You can't be here for Bella like you need to be right now.

"My proposition is for me to take her for the next few days. I can take time off of work and when I can't Dad will be home to help Bella out some. My friends will even lend a hand if I ask. Of course you can call whenever you want and we'll give you regular updates on her condition. She'd be better off in our care and you know it as well as I do."

"I'm her father." Charlie stated pensively, a bit of a bite to the last word.

"I know that. I'm not going to take advantage of Bella, Charlie." He promised the older man, not bothering to tell him that Bella would give herself to him very willingly in time. It would only unnerve the man. He wasn't doing to deflower her until she was better, anyway. "Billy will be there. Do you really think he'd let me do anything to Bella?" Of course even his father wouldn't be able to stand between him and his mate, but once again Charlie didn't need to know that.

Charlie stared him down for a long few minutes before setting about making dinner. Jacob knew that if Charlie was anything like his own father then he would be eating something that didn't technically involve any cooking. Neither man was a culinary genius. Still Jacob waited. He wouldn't back down until he got the answer he wanted.

His patience was rewarded several minutes later.

"Take good care of her." Charlie ordered, not bothering to look him in the eye. Jake suspected that the other man didn't want to have to admit to him being right. At least he was doing what was best for his daughter.

"Will do, Charlie. I'll go get her stuff."

Jacob quickly disappeared up the stairs for the second time that day, grabbed Bella's bags, and headed back downstairs. As he passed through the living room to the front door he saw Charlie crouched down before his mate and could hear their lowly spoken conversation. Bella was still delirious with sleep and speaking in mainly grunts and groans, but Charlie was telling her what was going to happen. Content that Charlie was not filling his mate's head full of rubbish he headed out to the red truck that had once belonged to him, grabbing the keys hanging on a hook by the front door as he went.

A light drizzle had begun some time ago. The rain slicked his hair down flatter to his skull, but he paid it no mind as he gathered up his bike in one arm and Bella's possessions in the other. He set both into the bed of her truck and secured the tarp stored back there over them to protect them from the rain. His bike could take the weather, but he didn't want Bella's clothes soaking through.

Once he was sure that the tarp would hold steady and not fly up and out of the bed with a single gust of wind he opened the driver's side door of the cab and fired up the engine. It roared loudly and his ears rang. Wincing, he knew that he'd either have to put a whole new engine into her truck or just get a new vehicle for her. This old truck was reliable, but it was old and loud. After jacking up the heat, already knowing that he'd be sweating worse than if he were in a sauna by the time they reached La Push, he shut the door and headed back into the house. He found Bella sitting upright, a groggy look on her adorable face. Charlie was nowhere in sight, but he could hear him upstairs taking a shower. Apparently he'd already said goodbye.

"We're leaving?" She croaked, eyes half-lidded with sleep. He had to chuckle.

"Yes, little one."

"But I'm comfortable." She complained as she tried to lay back down on the sofa. Jacob stopped her halfway.

"No no, Bella. You can go back to sleep in the truck."

"But I'm comfortable." She repeated, this time sounding like a petulant child. It was hard not to smile down at her.

"I know, honey, I know." In one swift motion he gathered her up into his arms, blankets and all. She immediately fell into his chest where she belonged. With a little shifting he was able to pull one end of the outermost blanket up over her head to protect her from the rain. He may not have felt it, but she surely would.

His footsteps were sure and steady as he exited the house and carried Bella towards her truck. He managed to open the passenger side door and slide her into the high seat before buckling her in. As soon as the door was shut her head thunked against the window. That time he did smile. Apparently his little mate liked her sleep. He'd have to remember that.

Before he could move away from the passenger side door he heard the front door open once more. He turned with his trademark, easy-going grin to face Charlie. Apparently that man could take a quicker shower than most men Jacob knew because he was standing in the open doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, defensive he could tell, wearing a pair of jeans and plain grey t-shirt.

"Your father and I are good friends, son, but Bella's my daughter. If you hurt her I'll blow your head off your shoulders." The older man warned him flatly. Jacob had no doubt that it was no idle threat. Charlie's voice was too calm to be anything but serious.

"I'd expect no less, Chief." He returned with just as much seriousness.

"I'll call later tonight around eight. Even if she's pissed at being woken up I want to talk to Bella." Although the wolf didn't like the thought of depriving its mate of what she needed to get well the man knew that a few minutes would not hamper her healing overly much. Besides, had he been in Charlie's position he would have demanded the same thing.

"Sure thing, Charlie."

"Take good care of her, son." With that Charlie disappeared into the house, slamming the door shut behind him.

Once he was certain that Charlie wouldn't be coming back outside Jake hurried into the driver's seat and eased them out of the driveway. He would make their trip to La Push slowly. The truck was bumpy and he didn't want to have to disturb Bella more than absolutely necessary.

It took him a little over half an hour to make it back to La Push and to his home. Bella kept mumbling in her sleep, most of the words nonsensical. Once he'd clearly heard her say 'foolish, foolish boy'. He wondered what she was dreaming about, but he wouldn't wake her up to ask. In all likelihood she wouldn't remember the dream anyway.

He parked directly in front of the little red house he shared with his father before hopping out. Billy came rolling out of the house just as he opened the passenger side door.

"What's going on?" Billy asked, his tone indicating his nervousness.

"I imprinted." Those were the only two words he had to speak to shut his father up. Jake collected her too tiny body back into his arms, taking silent pleasure in the fact that she curled up into his hold, and carried her into the house. He made a beeline for his bedroom and settled her onto the new full-size mattress. It was barely big enough for him width wise and too small length wise, but she seemed almost dwarfed by it.

With careful fingers he unswaddled her from her now slightly moist blankets, chucked them into a corner of his room, and then tucked her under his own blankets. They were clean since he hadn't used his bed since his first phase. He mostly slept in wolf form outside or on the couch in the living room.

Tonight, however, he would be sleeping on the floor beside his mate.

When he knew that she was as comfortable as he could possibly make her he walked back out of the tiny room and into the living room. His father looked stupefied, but on the verge of having a shit-eating grin crack across his face.

"You imprinted?" Billy asked almost gleefully.

"On Bella." Of course his father would know that he'd imprinted on the girl, but speaking the words out loud would prevent any possibilities of confusion.

"Congratulations son."

"I'm a lucky wolf." And he was. Bella was perfection personified. No one would be able to tell him differently.

Moving quickly he gathered up Bella's things from the truck, brought them into the living room, and then escaped to the truck for the final time to park it beside his work shed. Just as he was making his way back towards the house he was stopped by the scent of other wolves.

"Alpha."

Jake turned and found himself in the company of the rest of his pack. He raised an eyebrow.

"You brought Bella Swan onto the Reservation." Sam stated. He did not ask.

"Yes."

"Why, if I may ask?"

With a hesitant sigh Jacob turned back to the house. "You all might as well come inside. You all have a new pack member to greet."

Jake made it into the house first and gestured for his father to back up to allow the others room to enter. As he faced back to the doorway he felt his insides tighten when each and every one of them came to a standstill just inside the doorway.

He watched their mannerisms, scented their wolves, and his unease turned into something else entirely. Their eyes dilated before slipping into a half-shift. Several of them growled down deep in their chests. Their muscles rippled under their skins. A snarl built itself in his throat, but he didn't unleash it. Surprisingly it was the human in him that was enraged, not the wolf.

In fact, the wolf seemed happy as a clam at this turn of events.

"Jacob?" His father asked aloud, disbelief coloring his tone. Jake ran his hand over his face tiredly.

"I can't believe this shit." He grumbled aloud.

"So what I'm thinking is true?"

"Yes." He turned his own yellowed eyes onto his father, a hard mask over his face. "Apparently I'm not the only one in the pack that imprinted on Bella Swan."

* * *

><p><strong>Note<strong>**:** Dang guys and gals! Just D-A-N-G! I never expected this much interest in my story on just the first two chapters. Over fifty reviews in three days and several private messages. This story has also gotten over fifteen hundred hits in less than three days. I'm kind of…not speechless, but close. All I can say is thanks.

Also, I should tell y'all that I plan to post this story's chapters either weekly or bi-weekly depending upon how my computer is running. I am also making no requirements of how many reviews I'd like to post a new chapter. Any of my stories I have on Fanfiction I plan to post regardless, but with this story I think that I'm just going to let people feel what they feel and leave it at that…but I do like all the feedback. It makes an author feel good to know that their stories are appreciated.

Additionally I would like to make sure that everyone understands that this story is going to get kinky and hot at times. I will post warning at the beginnings of each chapter that I intend to have a 'hot' scene in and what that scene will entail in case you'd like to avoid it altogether, but you need to know beforehand that this story will have multiple sex partners, domination and submission (not slave and master), domestic discipline/spanking, profanity, and mature themes. This is why I'd prefer only mature readers for this story. It is going to get graphic at times.

Anyway, thank you all again for the reviews and kind words (I'd appreciate any corrections or creative criticism as well). I only ask that when reviewing you keep it clean in language and respectful because that is the only way that I will listen to it and I will not tolerate anyone being foul-mouthed to my other readers.

I hope that this chapter lived up to your standards. Hopefully the next one will go over well, too.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	4. Chapter 4: The Pack Mate

**Chapter Four: A Pack Mate**

"How in the ever-loving fuck does something like this happen?" Paul barked as soon as he exited the house to join the others.

Jacob was pacing angrily. His wolf, much to his annoyance, was as content as could be. He couldn't possibly understand why it wasn't howling in distress. Since the wolf had claimed Bella as its mate didn't that mean that she was _his_ and nobody else's? As far as the man in him was concerned he should be ripping his pack mates' throats out.

He could be an Alpha wolf without his pack. He was sure of it.

Sort of.

As it was they were all collected out front of his house where they wouldn't accidently wake up Bella with the yelling they knew would ensue and the possibility of shifting over wouldn't result in a ruined wall or two. Jacob had been able to do nothing as one by one they'd entered Bella's room to see her for themselves, perhaps even touch her, and make sure that she was real. The wolf wouldn't allow for anything less when it caught the scent of its mate. No matter how much he didn't like it he had to permit them to see her. She was their mate, their reactions to her scent proved it without a doubt, and he couldn't deprive them of her no matter how much the man in him wanted to.

It would be the equivalent of having just saved a man from dying of thirst in the desert only to turn right around and drink all the water right in front of him while refusing to allow him to drink even a single drop.

"The Hell if I know!" Jared growled, throwing a fist into a nearby tree. The tree shuddered impressively, but did not collapse. It was one of the large ones that had grown on the lands for ages. Jacob knew, though, that any one of them could easily fell a tree with one well-place punch. Jared had reined in his strength.

For the time being.

"I can't share my mate." Seth growled out from where he leaned against the garage. His face was stony, angrier than any of them had ever seen him. Seth was normally the carefree one of their pack. "She's mine and I won't allow anyone else to touch her."

"Well I ain't waiting on the sidelines just so one of y'all can fuck her!" Quil shouted, his eyes caught in shift. "She's mine, damn it!"

"Enough!" Jacob roared. Instant silence rained over the group assembled. He kept pacing, unable and unwanting to believe this had happened. He sent a glare towards his pack mates, his _brothers_, and grumbled. "Feel your wolves. There's something wrong here. We may not like this, but if your wolf is anything like mine then I know that they don't care. Actually, I think the wolves are practically prancing over this!"

They were all contemplative over this. With an annoyed huff Jacob sat down in the muddied ground and bowed his head. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought of something like this happening.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this, Dad?" He asked his father whose wheelchair was parked in the open doorway of the garage in order to keep out of the rain yet still remain nearby to hear and take part in the confrontation.

It couldn't be called a civilized conversation. There was too much barely contained rage for that.

"No." Billy assured him. He kept glancing between them all, disbelief clouding his eyes. "None of our legends reveal anything like this happening. Even Taha Aki's generation, which was the closest to ours with imprints, never revealed this."

"My question isn't whether it's happened before since it's happening _now_." Sam returned grumpily, his thick arms crossed over his chest. "My question is how in the world we're supposed to share a mate since it's happening _now_. We already want to kill each other. I don't even think any of us had thought of being in a relationship like this in out wildest fantasies. How can this possibly work?"

"You'll have to mate her together."

They all whipped their heads around to gawk at the newcomer. Jacob was disgusted that he hadn't acknowledged the other man sooner. He knew that his father had made a quick call just before they'd all retreated outside. He'd picked up his scent, but the wolf saw no threat in it so it had not fully alerted the man in him to it.

"What do you mean, Grandfather?" Quil questioned of his elder. The youth was given his ancestor's namesake. The Quil they knew was simply 'Quil'. His father was 'Big Quil' and his grandfather was 'Old Quil'. Jacob had never been one to like the passing down of names like that. In school he'd been punched soundly for daring to call Quil 'Junior'. It was funny to think of later, but he would never do it again.

_Never let it be said that I don't learn from my lessons._

"I don't know much more than Billy does." Old Quil rumbled out in his severely aged voice. He just barely managed to walk up beside Billy and sit down in one of the lawn chairs he used for furniture in the garage. The man was very old. If he walked the earth much longer he would be in need of a walker or else his body would revolt against him entirely.

"Tell us what you can." Jacob instructed the other Elder of the tribe. The two may not have been wolves and held very little true power over them as Protectors, but they had been in the tribe longer than any of them had. Whatever information they could give them would be appreciated.

"I think we misinterpreted the legends." Old Quil proclaimed, his gaze darting between them all. He seemed almost pleased with his self-discovery. Jacob wasn't. "Each legend we have about imprints says that the entire pack had an imprint. The generations where one of the pack didn't find an imprint none of them did. It stands to reason that because of social norms we assumed that each wolf had a different mate. What if we were wrong and in all this time the pack shared a single imprint?"

"That's just _wrong_ on so many levels!" Embry snapped, his eyes blazing. "We can't share the same mate. There's no possible way. It's just not right!"

"Is that your wolf saying that or the man?" Old Quil's eloquent words shut them all up. The old coot had the nerve to look smug. "The man was raised with belief that to each man is a single woman. Anything different from that and the man will become confused and uncomfortable. Look to your wolves, boys. They know what needs to be done. Surely they wouldn't purposely lead you all astray. If they do not mind you sharing a single mate, then why should the man?"

_Because the man is a possessive, jealous asshole._ The words flashed across Jacob's mind, but he didn't speak them. He was Prime Alpha. He had to keep his composure.

"What do you mean by 'mate her together'?" He asked instead.

"I'm guessing that when you claim her as yours fully that to make the bond permanent you will all need to claim her one right after the other. If even one of you is left out of the initial claiming then she could very well be left with a missing mate. Let your seeds mix in her womb. As much as it disturbs me to speak of such things with you children, you'll all have to share her physically that first time."

"Spirits!" Paul groused. Jacob could see the grimace on his face. "Have you seen how tiny she is? Taking even half of us would be more than enough for her. If she had to take us all it would kill her!"

"She was made for all of you, boys." Billy interjected and effectively drawing their attentions. "Do you think that the Gods and Spirits would give you a mate that couldn't survive against you all?"

Jacob didn't want to admit it, but he knew that his father was right. He'd even thought along the same lines earlier this morning. She was made for him as much as he was made for her. He would never be able to injure her in any way and she would be able to adapt to whatever he needed. It was only logical that the same could be said for the others.

_Oh Spirits!_ He howled inwardly, his face showing his remorse outwardly. _Now I'm starting to accept this and think it could work!_

"At least I'd never have to worry about leaving her alone." Seth conceded with a bit of a huff. When they all looked to him he shrugged his wide shoulders. "What am I going to do? I won't give up my mate and I wouldn't risk her misery or pain if she was lacking one of her mates. She'd probably be as miserable as any one of us or even more so if only one of us got to mate her. Right now all I can do is focus on the perks of this whole thing." Seth stared off into the middle of nowhere for a moment before pursing his lips in concentration. "Surprisingly there are more perks than downfalls."

Jacob knew that Seth was right even if he didn't want to agree with all of this. Despite the fact that the human in him would continue to balk at sharing his woman with others, the wolf was content. Bella would also be better taken care of with all of them working together than separately or alone. With seven of them she would never have to be alone and unguarded and she'd have an endless parade of men to pleasure her.

Of course, he amended quietly to himself, he would happily rip out anyone else's jugular with his teeth if they so much as thought of touching his mate. He'd learn to live with his pack mates being her mates, too, but no other man would ever come close to her. It would be a death wish for him and she'd be sitting on a ruby-red ass for a week if she so much as approached another male with anything other than a platonic relationship in mind.

_We'll have her so well fucked she'll barely be able to get out of bed. That way we never have to worry about her seeking another's attentions._

"I still don't like this shit." Paul groused, scratching his blunt nails through his hair roughly. "This is like that orgy stuff. I know some girls read about it, but I doubt Bella has…and I would really rather think that she hasn't than find out that she has. How the Hell is it even supposed to work? We need answers here."

"At times like this I wished that our ancestors had kept better track of their history." Billy inserted flatly, a look of haunting desperation drawing onto his face. Bella was his best friend's daughter, essentially another daughter to him, and Jake had little doubt that his father was struggling with the idea of Bella having to juggle multiple men. He'd been so happy just minutes ago when he'd brought her home, but now that the shit had hit the fan he was falling into despair. "They should have documented certain key factors in their lives, not just documented the families in which a wolf would most likely rise. They didn't even document which couple had which child!"

"They wouldn't need to in this case." Old Quil replied sagely, his face rooted in stony contemplation. "If what I've proposed is true and the pack shares a mate then the mother, the imprintee, would not need to be recorded each time since she was one in the same. Only the father's genetic line would need to be monitored."

Billy turned to the older man then and frowned. "Maybe on a genetic level the wolves, the dormant ones, knew which of the tribe they could and could not mate with. Having so many fathers, but only one mother would certainly make a lot of half-brothers and sisters."

"That could be why our ancestors decreed long ago that it was looked highly upon to couple with someone out of the tribe. New blood was needed." Old Quil surmised with another smug smile. Jacob could now see where is friend and packmate had inherited that devious smile.

"How are we going to go about explaining this to her?" Embry questioned suddenly, drawing Jacob's interest to him. "She knows about vampires, sure, but how do you think she's going to handle _this_? She'll probably adapt to the 'we're shapeshifters' thing quickly, but how do we tell her that she's going to be receiving the affections of seven overly large, hot-blooded males?"

"It doesn't much matter." Sam shot out while grinding the palms of his hands into his eye sockets. "None of us, now that we've scented her and seen her, is willing to let her go. Imprinting as the rest of the tribe knows it is total bullshit."

"No kidding." Paul agreed readily, his jaw clenching so hard Jacob could hear his teeth grinding.

"We were told that imprinting is supposed attach us to our soul mate even if it was in just a friendly or paternal way. I don't buy it. I'm hard as a fucking rock and no way in Hell am I going to settle for just being Bella's friend. I want _more_." Sam finished with a growl. When he removed his hands from his eyes Jake saw the yellow pigment to them. All of them were having a hard time keeping the wolves down in their agitation. Even if it was just the man in them that was upset the wolf could rise.

He thought back to his shared kiss with Bella and knew that he'd never be able to be her brother or friend. Like Sam he wanted more. Needed more. She was his mate and as his mate there were certain duties that they had to uphold to and for each other. Fucking until neither of them could see straight was one of them.

In truth he was a little more than just frightened for Bella if his thoughts were echoed around the group, which he expected by the hard-ons they sported under the cover of their cut-offs. She was human. He knew that a woman could orgasm many times in one session if worked up properly, but to have seven virile wolves drooling after her? He didn't see a way that she could possibly survive them all. His logical self agreed with Paul. Bella was tiny. They were not. She might survive a few of them taking her, but to have them all in one night? She'd be ripped apart from the insides out.

Still, his wolf was too content. The damn thing knew something that he didn't and since the wolf was only an extension of himself, not another mind entirely, the damned thing couldn't tell him what he wanted to know. If he gave in to his instincts and his wolf, truly let himself trust in them, he had a feeling that they might just be able to make this whole thing work.

…Provided Bella didn't pull a Richie and hightail it out of Washington.

The thought of his mate running from him had his wolf growling thunderously. No part of him wanted her being out of his sight or his protection for longer than was absolutely necessary. The others would feel the same. They could work together as the pack they were to safeguard their Alpha female, but they couldn't have her running. She'd get hurt. She'd need them and they wouldn't be there when she needed them most if she ran.

_No._ He told himself resolutely. _She is _not_ going to run. She is my mate. She is _our_ mate. We'll make her understand that the best place for her is within the shelter of our arms and if she gives any lip about it I'll tan her ass_.

"Damn it all!" Jared roared, his cool head blown away in the wind that was his mate's scent. They had all had the carpet ripped out from under them by having her come into their lives. Jacob wouldn't give her back for anything in the world, but he wished that they had at least had some preparation for this sort of thing.

"We won't be able to fight amongst each other. Not a true fight, anyway." Jacob spoke out sagely, his eyes focused on the ground before him. "We have to show Bella a united front. If she sees us arguing all the time there's no way that she'll agree to be our mate. We need to show her that together we know what's best for her and that we can take care of her.

"We'll be sharing _everything_ now. We need to get the cabin renovated since it looks like we've all made the decision to stay with Bella, consequences be damned. I want to make Bella as comfortable as possible."

"Me too." Quil agreed with a nod. All the others assented to that.

"What about pups?" The question voiced by Paul only gave Jacob a momentary pause.

"It won't matter who the biological father is. We are all going to be her mates. Whatever pups she bears will belong to all of us."

"And what about the rest of the tribe? The rest of the world? We're all going to be ostracized for this. Seven men do not take on one woman as their own in normal society." Quil's arms flexed over his chest and then back down to his sides, up and down, up and down. It was a nervous habit for the wolf.

"We'll shield her from it when we can." Jake huffed, relinquishing all power he had over this one issue. The Fates had given him his mate. He'd be happy with that. The rest would sort itself out in time if they worked together. "One of us would have to legally marry her, but each one of us would still be considered her husbands. Right now I'm more concerned about getting her to accept us. I don't give a flying shit what anyone else thinks besides her."

"Amen." Several of them muttered in synchrony.

"I'll be honest here," Jared sighed dejectedly, "I'm not too sure how I'm going to handle watching you all fuck and mark my mate. Even thinking about it makes me want to disembowel something."

"We'll figure it out." Sam tried to sound confident, but Jake could hear the desperation in his tone. All of them were thrown into something that they had no clue how to handle. All they knew was that in the end they wanted their mate.

"Regardless of what we want and feel, however, we can't push Bella too far right now. She's sick." Jake shook his head out as if trying to clear it. Memories of his kiss with Bella battered at the front of his mind. "None of us will be able to mate her until she gets better. She's extremely weak right now. Fucking seven men would be exhausting for a woman in peak physical condition let alone hers."

"Ugh." Embry looked as if he would like nothing more than to bash his head into a wall of granite. "Don't get me wrong here…I want to mate her. Badly. But if her being sick can keep you all at bay for the time being I'm all for it. Give me some time to get into agreement with my wayward wolf over this while imprint thing and then maybe I'll be more amiable to all of you touching her, but for right now I would rather watch my brothers fucking each other than her."

Despite the rather graphic, disturbing images that came to mind at that sentiment Jacob couldn't help but agree. The wolf was okay with the others mating her for whatever reason, but the man in him wanted Bella for himself. Maybe something would change in time to alter his feelings, but he doubted it.

"I don't love her." Jared sighed ponderingly. They all looked to him. "It's just the wolf. I lust for her, the wolf knows that she is my future, but the man in me doesn't love her."

'Neither do I's and 'I don't love her either's passed through the group slowly, almost reluctantly. When they all turned to him Jake had to breathe deeply to keep calm. He couldn't believe that he was going to say this…

"I don't love Bella, either." He didn't think it would bother him that much to say such a thing. But it did. "It hurts to think of being away from her, of letting her go, but that's just the wolf. Before phasing I was attracted to her physically, but she was just a good friend. I think it'll take time for our human halves to catch up to the wolf halves when it comes to Bella."

None of them looked too happy about that. Actually, he knew that the others shared the same initial view on imprinting as he did. The wolf may know what it wanted and would practically place the one female for it on a pedestal so that the man would know exactly who would be perfect for him in the end, but their human side needed time. The human needed to get to know its mate beyond simply recognizing her. He felt a little better over the idea of imprinting now that he _had_ imprinted, but he still wanted to fall in love with Bella the real way.

And he would. The wolf didn't make him love her…just know that she was the One. The wolf would make sure that she was safeguarded and cared for while the man finalized the bond by falling in love with her. Instincts were working with thought processes in their fullest capacity for the first time in several generations.

"Give it time." He stated finally, putting an end to that discussion.

Very suddenly Jacob felt his muscles tense and the wolf perk its ears and whimper in attentiveness. Almost immediately afterwards a soft, angelic voice carried on the wind towards them.

"Jake?" His gaze darted towards the house and found his little mate leaning in the open doorway, her toes bare, the comforter from his bed draped over her shoulders and trailing behind her, and a distraught look on her pretty face. "I don't feel so good."

* * *

><p>Bella's face felt numb when she awoke. A cold, hard wave of nausea swept through her and she lurched upwards. She held her breath, trying to hold the vomit back. She thought she might have been able to swallow the urge to hurl back down her raw throat, but as she went to inhale after letting out her breath the wave returned ten-fold.<p>

As if she was an Olympic sprinter she leapt from the bed in a single bound, but even with her newfound speed she was unable to make it much farther than three feet from the baseboard of the bed. She fell to her knees in a heap and heaved. Her hair fell forward, but she only had the strength to hold her trembling body up and out of the vomit on the floor. Several thick chunks of her hair spilled into the horrid mess and she felt tears welling behind her eyelids.

The dry heaves were the worst part of the whole thing. While there was nothing in her stomach left to come up she kept heaving. Her stomach convulsed until it hurt. It took great effort on her part to pitch herself away from the puddle on the floor once the heaving was done.

Bella fell back into the baseboard of the bed and panted. The acid from her stomach added a whole new fire to her already scorched throat and a cold sweat had broken out over her skin. She was trembling from her exhaustion and shivering from the sudden lack of heat in her body. With a shaking hand she reached up and back to tear down one of the blankets to wrap around herself.

Hot tears made hard tracks down her cheeks when she looked at the mess she had made on the floor of Jacob's bedroom. She was grateful that the floor was wooden and had no carpeting otherwise she knew that it would be nearly impossible to get out. The smell was bad enough now. Stuck under the surface of carpeting it would have become impossible to ignore.

Still shaking, she pulled herself up onto her feet. Her stomach revolted again, but with nothing settled down into it any longer she would just end up choking on her stomach acid. Her head swayed back and forth as she looked around the room.

Jake's room was small.

She had remembered her father telling her that she'd be staying with Jake until she was well enough to look after herself since he couldn't and vaguely recalled Jacob plopping her down into the passenger seat of her truck. She was relieved that when she woke up, not matter to what circumstances, she at least knew where she was.

Rocking unsteadily she listened for the telltale signs of other inhabitants, but could hear nothing. Deciding that she should clean up after herself before Jake or Billy could take notice of her body's rejection of her earlier meal Bella toddled out into the hallway to look for the bathroom, careful to keep the comforter from slipping through the foul smelling mess. By the time she found the bathroom she was huffing and puffing from the exertion on her overly tired body.

"I hate being sick." She griped in a strangled voice. She winced at the grating sound of it. She sounded like she belonged in a group for smokers' anonymous.

Before she could step into the bathroom she heard loud, deep voice coming from outside. It seemed like several people were having a heated argument. Unable to help herself Bella moved to the front door. She had to keep one arm to the walls to keep from toppling over.

When she hit the front door and opened it, a stiff, cold wind nearly knocked her flat on her ass. Only her tentative hold on the jamb kept her from going down. Her muck-filled eyes honed in on a crowd of overly large men standing beside a massive garage, two older men hunkered down in the doorway of the garage.

The men all looked alike to her. They were all shirtless, wore cut-off jeans, had russet colored skin, and cropped black hair. The misting rain coated them completely. Despite the cold none of them seemed to be affected by it. They talked amongst themselves, their voices lower now than when she had first heard them back in the bathroom.

A single body caught her notice from where it sat on the muddy ground slightly apart from the others. Any thoughts that she had about cleaning up her mess dissolved away when she saw him. She wanted someone to cuddle against. She just felt _that_ bad.

"Jake?" She was certain that her voice was too soft to be heard, but almost as soon as the word escaped her mouth he was looking at her. All of them were. She felt their gazes raking over her, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from her best friend. "I don't feel so good."

It seemed that was all it took to have him moving.

"Bella, honey." Jacob cooed as he jogged up to where she was standing. As soon as he was next to her she felt one arm band around her waist and back to support her weight while the other tested the temperature of her forehead. His scowl only deepened at what he found. "You're burning up again. You shouldn't be out of bed."

She heard the reprimand in his tone, but she felt guiltier for what she'd left on the floor in his room than actually getting out of the bed. If she hadn't done so the comforter would have been ruined.

"I got sick." She whispered, deathly ashamed of herself.

"You are sick, honey. What are you…" He seemed to catch on then as his nose twitched like a rabbits and his eyes zeroed in on her chunkified hair. The tears leaked slowly out of her eyes.

"I was going to clean it up." God did she sound pathetic.

"Awe, little one." He whispered, rubbing the palms of his hands over her back. "You don't need to do that. I'll get it cleaned up after we get _you_ cleaned up. Then we'll put you down for another nap."

"We?" Bella questioned, her gaze darting towards his entourage. The others had followed him up to the doorway, Billy and the other older man just barely managing to slide through the doorway with how jam-packed the home had become with bodies. She buried her face into the crook of Jake's arm when she caught the two older men's sympathetic looks. Jake's bare skin tickled at her still somewhat sweaty skinned cheeks and forehead. When had he taken off his shirt?

"My brothers. Not by blood, but still brothers where it counts." He told her as he maneuvered her carefully so that she could look at the assembled group. "I'll introduce you real quick and then we'll get you all cleaned up."

The first man stepped forward until he could take her right hand into his own. She expected his hand, which easily swallowed hers whole, to squeeze hers and shake. Instead she felt it being lifted high up into the air until he could kiss the palm of her hand. Little zaps of pleasure darted up and through her arm and settled down into her clit. Bella quickly found her mouth dry.

"This is Samuel Uley. We just call him Sam." Jacob introduced the man simply.

Bella took in this man's features. With a quick glance around the group she found that they all looked remarkably similar to each other, but there were telltale differences. Sam, for instance, had a thicker brow-bone. It made him look a little wilder, somewhat brutish, but added to his appeal. He had a flatter, wider nose like Jacob's, but his chin was almost square instead of sharp. He was just barely shorter than Jacob, thereby towering over her miniscule frame.

"Hello, Bella." His voice was just as deep and gravely, but perhaps a tad raspier. "It is an absolute pleasure to finally meet you."

"H-hi." She stuttered, unable to make any other coherent words leave her mouth.

The smile he shot her left her knees feeling even weaker. _Oh shit! That thing's potent!_

"Then there's Paul Lahote."

When the next man stepped up before her, effectively pushing Sam out of the way, she felt her heart stutter a few times. Paul's face was long and ovular, but the kind of face most women could easily rub themselves off to if it was presented in a photo before them. His eyes were a little sharper on the edges like Jake's were as opposed to Sam's rounder gaze. His nose was flat as well, but longer. His lips mimicked Jacob's. Kissable until the last breath. Sam's had been rounder, fuller. Glancing towards his ears she could see that they were almost pointed.

"Hello, my beautiful goddess." Paul purred, his nearly black eyes sparkling with lustful intentions. He, too, nabbed up her hand to press a kiss to her palm, followed softly by her wrist. She couldn't have stopped the trickle of moisture seeping into her panties if she'd had the energy.

"You're going to incinerate her, Paul." Another man snapped before standing beside Paul before her. His left hand rose to stroke her cheek with tenderness that had her eyes watering again. "I'm Jared Cameron. I'm thinking we'll get along just fine."

Jared's face had a rounder quality to it, but was by no means babyish. There wasn't an ounce of 'child' on his handsome face. Another flat nose and full lips, but his lips were also wide. If she thought on it for longer than thirty seconds she knew that she'd be salivating once more if she contemplated what those lips would feel like suckling on her nether ones.

_Get your head out of the gutter, you little slut!_ Her inner self screamed with indignation. Her pussy was fluttering with want, but she wasn't going to give into that part of her anatomy. Her conscience was right. She was being a floozy, yet she couldn't seem to help herself.

"You should remember Quil Ateara and Embry Call." Jacob's voice drew her attention to the fact that Paul and Jared had stepped away to allow her two other friends through. Embry's high cheek bones and definitively arched eyebrows made her somewhat envious while Quil's straight, long nose and downturned eyes had her aching to see the dimples in his cheeks. While Paul and Jared had been maybe an inch shorter than Sam, Embry and Quil about half an inch shorter than them. It was difficult determining heights at her level, but she thought that she was doing an okay job of it since her neck was beginning to hurt from looking so high up.

"Hiya, Bells." Embry took one of her hands while Quil took the other. Together they kissed the pulse points in her wrists. With tremendous effort she was able to lock her knees. She wouldn't embarrass herself by collapsing in Jacob's arms over his incredibly gorgeous 'brothers'. "Sorry we weren't with you before all this, but you'll never have to be alone again."

Quil nodded his head in agreement to Embry's statement. "We should have been there for you when those lee–when the Cullens left. Maybe you wouldn't be sick now if we had been."

"Don't worry about it." Bella brushed aside their chivalry. She gave them a nearly motherly smile. It would have been entirely motherly if her damned hormones would just stop getting in her way. "This kind of stuff happens all over the world. I'm not the first girl to get dumped. I was just stupid enough to wallow in my misery out in the rain too long."

"Still," the final man imposed, pushing right between the two who still had holds on her hands, "you are sick now and you might as well get all the pampering you can while the real-world takes a holiday. I'm Seth Clearwater, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." She mumbled as Seth bent forward smoothly and placed a chaste kiss to her forehead. Despite it being on her forehead, not her lips, and being so quick the butterfly-light touch of it gave her goosebumps.

Seth was a handsome little devil, although _little_ probably wasn't the appropriate term to use when referring to him or any of them. Seth wasn't much shorter than Quil or Embry, but his smooth cheeks, sharp eyes, low-drawn brow, and full bottom lip reminded her very much of Jacob. The only true difference was in their height and the fact that Seth had crinkles at the sides of his eyes to lay claim to too much laughing in his past.

She was only just barely able to steal her hands back from the other two and back herself up into Jacob's wide chest. His arms banded below her bust and shielded her somewhat from the others, though she was not feeling particularly afraid for her safety with these men. No. She was afraid for her virtue if she was left to stare at them too long. Given half the chance and twice the energy she had now she'd attempt to jump one of them to get her pleasure.

_I'm such a whore._

"The man standing with my father is Quil's grandfather, Quil Ateara. Everyone just calls him Old Quil." Bella felt relieved that at least she didn't feel any attraction for the elderly man. She was beginning to think that she had no self control.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Her manners were impeccable. She never once worried about going to a friend's house and not being invited back. Adults seemed to instinctively adore her and beg their children to get more friends like her. She could only hope that the same manners she utilized with the parents of her friends would work on this older gentleman.

"You may call me Old Quil, Bella. I don't stand too much on formality." The man beamed at her and she could see the defining laugh lines hidden in his wrinkles. "And it is an honor to meet you as well."

She might have tried to continue he conversation with the older man even with her scratchy throat, but Jacob beat her to the punch.

"Come on, little one. Let's get you into a bath and we'll wash out all that sweat and mess from your hair." Jacob began to turn her even as he addressed the others. "Jared, snatch her bags up from the couch and bring them into my room. She'll be sleeping there. Paul, Quil, see if you can get the floor cleaned up."

"I can clean it up. Just give me…Jake!" She squealed as she was pulled up off of her feet and draped between Jacob's arms. Her arms wrapped around his thick neck instinctively. She didn't doubt him and think he'd drop her. She just wanted assurances.

"Calm down and let us take care of it. You're exhausted, Bella, and we don't mind."

"But…"

"No 'buts'. You're going to have a bath and then you're going back to bed. Nothing more and nothing less." Once in the bathroom he set her down onto the toilet seat, turned, and flicked on the faucets. Immediately the tub began to fill with quickly warming water.

Bella frowned at him as he disappeared from the room only to return moments later with her shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hairbrush. He set them down on the edge of the average sized tub before rounding onto her. His fingers curled in a 'come hither' motion.

"Up you get, little one. I'll help you rinse out your hair before you sink into that tub."

"I can do it myself, Jacob." She spat peevishly, upset that he thought of her as such an invalid.

"I know you can, honey, but it would make me happy to do it for you." He gave her one of his trademark smiles, ones that she had no power against. "Would you deny me this one pleasure? After all I've done for you?"

"You don't play fair."

"Of course not. That's why I always win."

She avoided sticking her tongue out at him…barely. With reluctance she stepped up next to Jacob in the too small room. The comforter fell behind her as soon as she was beside him. She wouldn't need it in a minute anyway.

Jacob pulled her gently before the sink so that he could set her hair down into the bowl. He then began to methodically cup water pouring out of the sink into his hands, let it cascade down the ends of her locks where it had fallen into the vomit, and then collect more water to repeat. Once enough of the chunks were removed he began to use his actual fingers to take out the bulk of the dampness. By the time he was done the tub was full.

"I'll be right outside the door if you need me, honey." His big hands cupped her cheeks as soon as he turned the faucets off. "I'm going to call in here periodically. If you don't answer I'll come in. I don't want you falling asleep in the tub and drowning." There was no jest in his deep timbre and she dared not go against his 'no nonsense' voice. Not now anyway. So she just nodded.

Jake leaned forward, smacked her lips quickly with his own, and then hurried out of the room. Bella was left staring after him with wide eyes. Of their own free will her fingers rose to touch her tingling lips.

_What the Hell has gotten into him? What the Hell has gotten into _me_?_

Bella shook her head firmly. She was determined to ignore the ache that had built in her channel at the introduction of the other men and Jacob's too quick kiss. As fervidly as possible, she shucked her pajamas and hopped into the blissfully hot water. Immediately the heat began to eat away at her tension and unclog her nose. That was one marvelous trait about heat…it worked wonders at unstopping a disgustingly congested nose. Just for the Hell of it she snatched a hand-towel, folded it, and then slipped it just behind her head and neck on the inner lip of the tub. Her makeshift pillow only added to her quickly escalating comfort.

"Ahh." She sighed, her toes wiggling under the surface of the water. The pale pink nail polish was still there from a couple of nights ago when she'd decided to color them. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but she'd always enjoyed having her toenails colored. Not so much her fingernails. She had dainty little toes and the pink polish only made them look cuter. In warmer weather she'd wear flip-flops to show off whatever new design she decided to put on them. In Washington, however, it was far too cold and she'd long lost interest in bothering to color her nails. If they'd always be covered why bother?

_Because painting your nails makes you feel pretty._ Her inner self quipped cheerfully. She was right, of course. She'd never had high esteem of herself, but for some reason painting her toenails gave her a boost of self-confidence. With Edward gone she thought that she might have to start dolling them up again. She'd need the pick-me-up.

Thinking of Edward made her wince.

It wasn't entirely their break-up that made her so upset. It was her suddenly raging hormones and her slutty thoughts towards what seemed to be the entire male populace of La Push. What kind of self-respecting woman thought about seven men at once in a sexual way? Sure she was young, but she wasn't stupid. She wouldn't have even thought of herself as a sexual creature until she and Jacob had shared that kiss.

Bella gnawed on her lower lip and flushed all the way down to her breasts as she recalled with distinct clarity what that kiss had felt like and done to her. She'd been on the verge of whimpering when he'd pulled out of the heated kiss. Actually, she was certain that if she'd been any more gone in her mind she would have pushed him down onto the cushions of the sofa and tried to get herself off just by rubbing at the impressive bulge hidden in his jeans.

_Oh sure, that you notice! You little floozy!_ Her mind screamed. Yet she couldn't help but imagine what his cock would look like outside of those jeans, entirely unleashed. The thing had felt obscenely large when she'd been shamelessly rubbing herself into it. She had read erotic romance novels before, but she'd thought that the erections portrayed in them were nothing but wishful thinking. Apparently she was wrong.

All that aside, she'd had a completely inappropriate response to Jacob's friends, too. And in front of Jake! Edward had only left last night and already she was falling all over herself to get at these men.

She felt worse than pond scum for doing it.

What made it worse was that deep down she knew that she had never had this kind of response to Edward. Not ever. She'd been attracted to him. He was good looking. There was no disputing that, but in her mind he had nothing on Jacob and the others. She'd kissed Edward, but it had been more platonic than anything. With Jacob she'd been turned on to the point of forcing herself on him. If she'd had the strength she was sure that she would have made an even bigger fool of herself. She'd wanted Edward, sort of, but not nearly as much as she wanted _them_.

Bella groaned and sunk further into the bath water.

"Bella, honey? Are you okay?"

"Yes." She called back just loud enough to be heard through the door. She then pushed the towel back further against the wall so that it wouldn't fall into the water and then dunked down underneath. She stayed under for as long as she could hold her breath, all the while scraping her fingers through her long hair. By the time she surface she couldn't help but wonder why she never cut it.

_Because it's like your addiction to painting your toenails. Having long hair makes you feel pretty._

Sighing in frustration and determined to ignore her inner voice, especially since it was unwaveringly trying to make her feel more miserable about herself, Bella got to work washing her hair. It took a fair dollop of shampoo and conditioner each to get her long hair clean. Normally if she would take a bath she'd wash her hair in the shower first since it was easier that way, but she was just too wiped out to do anything other than get through with this bath. Besides that she didn't want to be using up all of the Black's hot water. She was just a guest after all.

When she was done with that task she looked around for a washcloth to squirt her body wash onto, but upon finding none she shrugged and settled herself for using her hands. It was less efficient, but it still worked.

"Bella?"

"Yes?" She snapped back in her croaking voice trying not to be too irritated with Jacob's worrying. His reasons were pure, but that didn't mean that she liked being interrupted while bathing. She was sick, not comatose.

"Would you like the pajamas you were wearing earlier or another cleaner pair? I grabbed some of your other pajamas if you'd like them." She had no choice but to smile at his sweetness. Was it at least a little bit embarrassing that he'd gone through her dresser? Yes. Did that make it any less charming that he'd thought about her needs and wants? Nope.

"I'll just wear these, Jake." A sudden thought struck her. "Uhm, did you get my toothbrush and toothpaste?"

"Yeah. They're right out here with me. Once you get out and dressed I'll bring them in. Do you want anything else?" _Are men supposed to be that thoughtful? I thought men were usually clueless about what a woman truly wanted unless she straight out told him._

"No. I'll be done in a minute. I'll open the door when I'm dressed."

"No rush, little one." He assured her in an almost loving voice. The deep timbre of it sent chills down her spine despite the heat of the water. Another kind of heat pooled in her gut. "Take all the time you need."

"Give me a minute." It was all she could seem to say.

Bella hurried through wiping down her skin with the mandarin scented body wash before unstopping the tub and climbing out carefully. She was a bit of a klutz on a good day. With being sick she just _knew_ that her accident prone tendencies were going to be working triple-time.

She was good in math. Tile floors plus wet body equaled mayhem.

She dried her body off with a towel she found rolled up above the toilet seat. Before putting on her pajamas she wrapped the towel quickly around her head to start drying her hair. As soon as the strings on her bottoms were tied she turned the knob to the bathroom. Unsurprisingly it was unlocked.

Jacob was waiting on the other side smiling down at her. She was genuinely surprised that his head didn't hit the ceiling of the small house. It was a near thing, though. As it was he had to duck under the door jamb to enter the bathroom when she stepped back to allow his entrance.

"Are you feeling better, honey?" He asked kindly, his right hand coming to brush lightly across her cheek. It was hard to contain the blush at the tender, loving caress.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Anything for you, Bella. Here." He handed over her toothbrush and toothpaste gently and watched as she brushed her teeth. As soon as the horrid taste of bile was out of her mouth she felt two large hands settle onto her hips from behind. She stiffened in response, but almost as soon as she did that a purr erupted from Jacob's throat.

_And the shivers return._

"J-Jake?" She asked tentatively, gawking wide-eyed at her expression in the mirror.

"Shh." He whispered just under the shell of her ear and blowing hot air there. He was not looking at her in the mirror. His sole focus seemed to be on the juncture between her shoulder and her neck. "I just want to scent you, little one. You just smell so good." The last word came out as a growl and Bella felt her channel contract convulsively.

It seemed that she had no will of her own. Either that or she simply couldn't fight her body's wants. She knew that she didn't _want_ to fight them. Her body was singing for his touch and her mind was having a hard time reconciling with that fact.

When Jacob nudged his nose into her neck and butted her head very gently to the side she found herself baring her neck for him. His hands instantly moved from cupping her hips to banding across her waist and tugging her high up against his chest. She squeaked at her sudden departure from the ground and braced her tiny hands onto his steely forearms. Jacob growled again. The vibrations slid right through her and moistened her pussy lips.

"Oh shit." Bella gasped as soon as Jacob's teeth scraped the pulse in her neck.

Pleasure soared through her like lightning through the skies. Her neck craned even more instinctively, asking for more. She moaned when he gave her what she asked. She'd never been kissed on the neck before. It seemed that it was a real pleasure zone for her. A hot spot. Her mind was fizzling away at a rapid pace and it seemed that now that she was getting all worked up her inner voice had no condemning words to give her.

_Little witch. What a damn hypocrite._

The last of any intelligent thought crumbled when Jacob sucked. Her inhale was a mix between a whimper and a scream, not loud, but equally powerful and telling. Her hands shot up behind her to claw into his hair from behind. Her body didn't want him moving away until he'd finished what he'd started and she wasn't one to argue with it.

She was more than taken aback when very suddenly she was dropped to her feet, shoved behind a wide back, and could hear several sets of angry growls. She swayed on her feet and her eyes couldn't focus. Two solid hands, not Jacob's hands, connected with her hips in a very familiar way. Without conscious thought her head tipped.

Somebody chuckled hoarsely.

"Christ, Jake! Look what you did to her!" One of the men swore with fire. Embry, her mind supplied sluggishly.

Very slowly she came to out of her haze. Her nether regions were still tingling and weeping for what they'd just lost, but she was able to tamp down that traitorous feeling when she noticed three of the men, Jacob being one of them, throwing punches at each other and snarling inhumanly.

"Oh my God!" Bella screamed. She attempted to dart forward between the three combatants, to do what she didn't know, but the hands that settled onto her hips became like vices. She could not move anywhere that they did not allow her to.

And yet she kept trying.

"Settle down." Embry growled before pulling her out of the way completely. The three men fought all the way out the front doorway to where she could no longer see them, but she could hear the awful snarling. "You're just going to hurt yourself if you keep this up."

"Somebody stop them!" She screamed frantically, not lessening her struggled to escape at all. "They'll kill each other."

"No they won't." Another of the men remaining chided her lightly. Sam. "They're just working out some frustration. They'll come back to you whole and sound. Trust me. Now, let's get you back into bed and get your hair combed out."

"Are you nuts?" Bella squeaked, unable to believe her ears. Righteous fury soared through her when the bastard smirked at her. "You know what, you can get the Hell out of my sight. All of you! Get out! Go find something to beat over the head with a stick because I'm not going to be a part of your barbaric tendencies."

"Hmm." Jared purred from where he faced her a little off to her side. "I like you're fire, sweetheart."

"Come any closer and you'll get burned." She promised. "Now get out of my site. All of you! Now!"

"She's cranky." Quil surmised, an almost indulgent look on his face. Bella had the sudden urge to rip it right off. He may have been sex-on-a-stick gorgeous, but he was also a narcissistic asshole.

"I am _not_ cranky. Let go of me!" It was her turn to snarl. She gave herself credit for making it sound almost as real as the guys' did. Embry only gripped her hips tighter despite her nails clawing at his fingers to pry them off.

"Little Hellcat." Sam laughed before reaching towards her and plucking her right up off of her feet. One arm came to support her under her knees while the other went to her back. On instinct she grappled for his neck and found his hold just as comfortable as Jacob's had been. It sickened her that she was acting this way.

Sam carried her smoothly into the bedroom, completely at ease with her weight in his arms. She narrowed her eyes at him. At five and a half feet tall and one-hundred and fifteen pounds she was about average for her size, maybe a little smaller, but until Edward had come along carrying that kind of weight for any man would at least have his muscles tensing beneath her. Bella could feel Sam's tightly corded muscles, but he wasn't straining with her. Not at all.

_They're not human._ She thought suddenly. _They growl and purr. Edward could do that, too, but not so much like an actual animal. He at least sounded human. These guys just…aren't._

So that left the ever-present question…

_What are they?_

Sam set her down onto the bed softly. So absorbed in her sudden reverie she failed to notice Embry pulling back the covers and her entry into the room. As soon as she was set down Quil appeared behind her. She pivoted her body to stare at him, but he only smiled and swirled one finger in front of him to signal her to turn back around.

"I won't disembowel you, Bella."

"Not from the back you won't." She retorted snidely, still irritated from the other three's fight. At least she couldn't hear their idiotic battle for male superiority anymore.

She was a little surprised when she felt her brush being run through her hair. The others, who had yet to leave the room, chuckled at her startled jerk. She sent glares their way, but it only seemed to make them smile wider.

"How has school been, Bella?" Embry asked conversationally. Too bad she was in no mood for idle chit-chat.

"Fine."

They continued to engage her in conversation, but she was only able to give vague, one word responses. She couldn't handle much more than that with how hard she was studying them. If they weren't human, which she was certain that they weren't, then she was going to find out what they were. Since vampires existed it stood to reason that other mythological creatures existed.

They were very large. Seven feet was no normal height for a regular man and especially not in an entire group like this. Rare incidents of people at such heights were documented around the world and scantily at that. Even if all of them shared the same blood parental-wise, which Jacob said they didn't, that genetic trait couldn't possibly be strong enough to pass on to all of them.

Then there was the issue of their overly hot skin. She supposed that they must run higher in temperature than a normal human, just as the Cullen's ran cold. She supposed that since the Cullen's blood was essentially dead that was why they were so cold. A higher temperature indicated a higher amount of energy and life. Adding that fact to their size then they probably were something less human than a vampire was. A vampire was essentially human, just dead and with a few added perks.

Of course there were the animalistic sounds to consider, too. Normal people just couldn't manage those kinds of sounds with just two vocal folds in their larynx. A cat, she knew, had the same number of vocal folds as a human, but their sounds were restricted to yowls or 'meows' with the occasional purr coming out. Humans could mimic the purr as well, though to a lesser degree. Dogs on the other hand had thirty vocal cords which is why they could make such a wide range of sound.

_Huh. I guess I really did pay attention in human anatomy when the teacher went over this stuff._ She let the small twinge of pride course through her before shaking that thought away. She had other more pressing matters to deal with. She could be smug later.

Summing up the oddities that she could recall immediately with Jacob and the others she began to slowly tick through her mental list of all the mythological creatures she could recall from movies, books, and general folklore passed down through the generations.

They weren't vampire. That was a fact. If they turned out to be vampires she'd willingly reverse time and let James kill her. She'd call them superhuman if she had seen any other show of strength besides Sam's and Jacob's carrying her so easily. The idea of trolls just didn't fit and thinking of elves she'd be more tempted to picture beings closer to vampires in appearance. The guys were stunningly handsome, not beautiful.

Her mind skipped through possibilities beyond possibilities. Warlocks. Gremlins. Giants. Demons. The Sidhe, another kind of elf or fairfolk. Dwarves. The last one gave her a moment's pause and upon imagining a Jacob-shaped lawn ornament she had to bite back the urge to giggle. It was just too adorable.

"What are you thinking about so hard, Princess?" Quil questioned from behind her. Bella's spine stiffened for a singular moment before she shook it off. She didn't fear any of them. She just felt a tad awkward in their presence after she'd been so greedy for them earlier.

"Nothing much."

"You're lying." Quil retorted without preamble, assurance in his tone.

"How can you tell?" She quizzed back. She hoped he would answer her or at least slip up and correct himself to give her another hint as to what they might be. She had always been good at puzzles. They just had to give her all the pieces otherwise she'd be staring at a picture full of holes…which is what she had now. A picture full of holes.

"You're fidgeting and just as you began to answer me your voice cracked."

She turned her head to him to show her raised eyebrow. A small smirk curled its way onto her lips. "You practicing to become a detective, Quil?" Was she mistaken or did he tremble when she said his name?

"Nope. I'm just good at reading people."

"We all are." Paul reported as he sauntered into the room that was already overcrowded. Behind him followed Jacob and Seth. None of them looked injured, although their hair was mussed up and dirt smeared their faces and naked chests. It was a concentrated effort to keep from ogling their Pecs and abs.

She jerked to her knees on the bed as soon as they were in the room and pointed a death glare at them all. Their steps faltered at her ire. Good, let them be afraid of her. She was angrier than a hornet at a picnic table.

"What the Hell was wrong with you three? Do you know how much you scared the ever-loving crap out of me?" Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes as she surveyed them closer. They had seemed almost happy re-entering the room. She couldn't believe this. She hadn't even been here one day and already she was causing a rift between them even if they came back all chipper. "I'm not going to stay here." She informed them simply.

When she attempted to retreat from the bed, however, she was nabbed up by two firm hands and set into a wide lap. The arms that had just picked her up quickly banded around her arms and chest more firmly than steel cables.

"You're not going anywhere, Isabella." Jacob growled, indignation showing in his eyes.

"The Hell I'm not! I'm an adult. You can't keep me here against my will." She wiggled in Quil's lap hoping for some sort of escape. Instead she found only solid muscle and a quickly growing erection at the crease of her ass. She tried futilely to ignore the last.

"It won't be against your will, darlin'." Seth purred to her. When her eyes landed on his she could almost swear that she could see yellow encroaching on the irises. "You'll love every minute of it. In fact, I think you'll be begging to stay with us before long."

"Enough, Seth." Jacob growled in a low, flat voice. She knew that tone. It was his 'I mean business and you better do as I say' voice.

She looked between them then and something just clicked in her mind. Her eyes widened when she took in all of their similarities, how much they resembled what she would imagine the warrior clans would have looked like back before the white man had encroached on their lands. She totaled in their sizes, their ferocity, the inhuman sounds they made, and their sky-high temperatures. All the fight left her so quickly she was left dizzy from the backlash of it.

"Oh wow." She whispered. Their eyes all snapped to her, but she was too busy remembering…

"_Do you know any of our old stories, where we came from—the Quileutes, I mean?_" Jacob had asked on that fateful day. "…_Another legend claims that we descended from wolves—and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them_."

Jake hadn't looked the way he did now when he told that story. He'd still been bigger than her and incredibly attractive, but he'd been closer to normal. So had Sam. They had all looked almost normal. So something had changed…

"_You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves._"

She'd asked what the cold ones were. He'd called them blood drinkers. Vampires. It had turned out that their legends were true. The Cullens, the family not permitted on their lands, were vampires. If that point held absolutely true then that would mean…

"Bella, honey?" Jacob asked worriedly, kneeling down in front of her to look her in the eye. Quil was pulling her hair back away from her face as if he thought that she might throw up again. "Are you okay?"

Bella gawked at her friend for the longest minute. Could she believe this? Yes. Did she want to? She wasn't sure. Knowing about the Cullens had changed things a great deal, a lot of it for the better, but some of it was most assuredly not good. It would be the same here. She could go on acting like she knew nothing. She could go on pretending that everything was normal and the world could remain spinning peacefully on its axis.

Or she could open her mouth and say the one phrase that was sure to change her life for good.

She had that feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she'd first named Edward a vampire she had felt a subtle shift in her world. Things weren't the same, but she could pretend that they were. If she admitted to this…admitted to it _now_…things were going to change irrevocably. She wouldn't be able to go on living knowing that she could just choose to brush off every odd little thing in her life as coincidence. There was a reason behind everything. Everything she learned would lead her to some other adventure.

This was one of those pivotal moments in books that she normally liked to skip over. She couldn't stand the suspense of those last minute decisions her heroes or heroines had to make. She always felt trapped by their need to decide. Either way they were standing on a precipice, on one side was what they knew and would call 'safe' while on the other was the unknown where they would know nothing and have nowhere safe to hide. Now that she was facing one of those very decisions she couldn't very well skip ahead to the next chapter of her life and go about her life like she hadn't had to make that leap of faith. She had to speak. And she had to do it soon.

Glancing about at the faces gathered Bella saw their furrowed brows and the worry shadowed in their eyes. They were worried _for_ her. They were worried _about_ her. That knowledge gave her comfort. Even if they turned out to be what she thought them to be they would remain for her. They wouldn't run.

Just as she seemed to know that she was at the point that she had to make a decision she knew that she would not be alone in the end.

"Bella, you look like you're going to be sick. Tell us what's wrong, little one. We'll make it better in any way we can. Please." Her resolve broke in that moment with the pleading in Jacob's tone. Jake was not a man to go down to his knees without reason, without care behind it. She would not prolong this any longer.

With a heavy sigh she faced Jacob head on, but her words were addressed to the group as a whole…

"You're all werewolves."

The room became as silent as the grave. She could hear no one breathe. She could barely feel Quil's hands stabilizing her stiff shoulders. Jacob stared back at her through unfathomably deep, dark eyes. She found herself swallowed by them. She was entranced. As she watched the yellow crept in like a growing vine. In seconds all but his irises were engulfed in an eerily beautiful golden light.

Jacob stood fluidly, his stance powerful once more.

Bella stared.

"We prefer the term shapeshifter."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** My goodness! This story has certainly attracted a lot of attention. I've never had so much enthusiasm thrown at one of my stories nor the tremendous amount of reviews. I've responded to those that I thought needed addressing, but for the most part I've been soaking up the praise. You have no clue how good I feel at knowing that y'all are enjoying this story.

Of course your opinions could have changed with this chapter. This is probably the pivotal piece of the story for my readers…if you couldn't take what was set out here then you will not like the rest of the story. Bella is the entire pack's imprint and that is not going to change (no other mates will be coming for her, don't worry). The story will have its ups-and-downs, there will be hot and heavy scenes as well as tragic ones, but no matter what the wolves will be circling their mate. To be honest I do not care if you appreciate my idea or not…this story will continue to go on and be posted.

Anyway, thanks for all the awesome reviews. It keeps me pumped to know that y'all like this story. Hopefully you'll still like it now that the truth is out. The next few chapters will reveal in detail about what Bella is to expect from her wolves and the true meaning of 'imprinting' will be revealed. _**Also, updating times will be slowed down to one chapter every one to two weeks.**_ I mainly wanted to get these four chapters out into the open so that my readers will know what to expect...at least partially!

As always, I ask that reviews remain polite even if they are to criticize. I appreciate any creative criticism. I just DO NOT welcome cursing pointed at me or my readers. Thank you for reading.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	5. Chapter 5: Discoveries

**Chapter Five: Discoveries**

Sam glanced down at his mate and tried to decide if he should be more surprised over their sudden reveal to her or her easy acceptance of it. He was seriously inclined to disbelieve her calm attitude. The only reason he couldn't fully brush aside her ease was her scent. There was no bitter twinge to it that would indicate a lie or nervousness. Fear gave a being's scent a sharp, almost smoky, but mostly rotten weight to it. Hers was its normal oranges and spice scent.

"How did you figure that out, Princess?" Quil inquired, still settled beneath and behind her petite form. Bella shrugged her slight shoulders.

"Kind of guessed. I'm used to different." She gave them all a bashful smile. "You were all just so…not human. I mean you are men, but things kind of ticked off against you being simply human."

"Like?" Sam prodded, already knowing which 'things' made them different, but wanting to hear her voice more.

"Burning temperatures. All of you being so tall. The growls." She blushed at the last point and Sam had to battle down the eager smirk itching to surface. His baby girl, his mate, was just too adorable. It seemed that she was not unaffected by them, either. "All of it added up to something supernatural. That's what I was thinking about when Quil was brushing my hair."

"You were amused. I smelled that." Jared winked down at her before continuing on with his questioning. "What were you thinking exactly, Bella?"

"Uhm," She bit her bottom lip nervously. He watched her look around the room as if for an escape, which there was none, and then sighed in surrender. "There were names of mythological creatures that just didn't fit and one that pinged into my head made me laugh to think of it. It was…"

"Yes?" Jared urged, an increasingly large smile on his own face.

"Gnomes."

They all did laugh at that, their combined mirth nearly shaking the house. Bella looked startled by the sheer volume they exuded, but not offended or disgusted. That at least was a benefit. She would never survive with them if she couldn't stand rancorous noise. While hunting they were stealthy and completely undetectable. Within the home they were louder than teenagers back from a football game.

"I could just see it now." Embry chortled.

"Yeah, all of us running around our neighbors' front lawns on tiny legs and big pointy hats on our heads." Seth sent a good-natured glare down to their little mate. "Thanks for the self-esteem boost, Bella."

"Sorry," she mumbled as she looked down to the sheets beneath her and Quil's legs. Sam could see the lighthearted grin on her face even though she tried to hide it.

"What made you decide on werewolf?" Paul asked with a softer voice than Sam had ever heard from him before.

"Jake."

They all sent true glares to their Alpha. Embry and Jared even went so far as to snarl at him. Jacob raised his arms in a clear 'I'm not involved in this' pose. Sam didn't believe it. Jake had had more chances at Bella than they did even though this was the first day he'd taken in her scent since phasing. The whole incident in the bathroom made them all doubt that Jake hadn't done something else against his own orders.

_Give her time, he says. What a crock!_

"This was before any of you became shapeshifters…at least I think so." Bella scratched her nails through the back of her scalp before continuing. "Jake had told me one of the legends, sort of, back when I first came to Forks and us kids from the school came down here. The one about your descendants being wolves and the cold ones. I just never forgot it."

Sam could still remember back to that time. She was right. None of them had phased at that time. Actually it had taken one week more before he'd shifted into his wolf form for the first time.

She'd been underage then, but he could still remember her. Mate or not, Bella was an attractive woman. Just barely over five and a half feet tall, long brunette hair, dazzling brown eyes, and legs that went _all_ the way up. He was a leg man. He always had been. Always would be. The moment he'd seen her at the beach back when he was 'normal' he'd imagined what it would feel like to run his hands over her shapely legs. He could still picture their smoothness and still ached to know their softness.

It had bothered him a little that he'd been so infatuated with her from just one look. He'd had a girlfriend at the time…Seth's older sister, Leah. She was undeniably beautiful. Leah could have any man her heart desired thanks to her looks, but her heart was distant. She didn't commit. Even at just twenty-two years old he'd wanted at least some semblance of commitment between them, but she'd just wanted to be free. Sam had decided the day he'd seen Bella at the beach that if he still had the capability of being attracted to another woman in any other way than friendship while he was in a relationship with Leah that he was never going to be satisfied with what the older woman had to offer him. Leah was the same age as Sam, supposedly more mature than Bella, and yet when he'd broken things off with her he'd expected something better than he'd gotten. Leah had pouted, called him an asshole, slapped him, and then stormed off complaining about how men didn't know the difference between women. They only knew that every woman had a pussy and that suited them just fine.

_Wrong._ Sam had thought. _We may be sexually driven creatures, but no guy likes to drive himself into a woman that can show more emotion over a handbag she saw in a department store than over her boyfriend's recent familial problems_.

It hadn't taken very long at all after seeing Bella for the first time to realize how truly different she and Leah were. He'd overheard his mate talking to her friends that day. He'd even asked after her from that incredibly vain, Leah wannabe, Lauren. Despite being physically attractive Bella had had an actual personality. She smiled and laughed without shiny baubles to draw her full attention. She cared about others. She believed in others' needs above her own…

His wolf growled at that thought. She was Alpha female now. She shouldn't have to look after anyone else but herself and even then her mates would see to whatever she desired. It would be their duty, but also their _pleasure_. Sam wanted to see his mate smile up at him when he gave her gifts, though from what he'd learned of her from eavesdropping, snooping, and just plain overheard from the other wolves when they'd been permitted in her presence, Bella wouldn't accept flashy things. She was a simple creature and didn't want to be pampered. From what he'd learned she'd rather give away whatever didn't hold necessary value to those in need and wanting as opposed to receiving gifts herself.

Tough. She was going to be treated the way she deserved and she deserved to be indulged. Heavily. He didn't doubt that she'd balk, but he also knew that she would not become greedy. His Bella just wasn't like that.

"You are very clever, darlin'." Seth purred out.

"Not really. Just inquisitive." Bella rebuked with a small, shy voice.

That was another thing his wolf didn't like. She was hiding. She rejected compliments. The man in him understood that somewhere in her life she had thought herself undeserving of praise and that tendency to avoid respecting herself had taken a firm hold on her. He'd make her see her own worth if it was the last thing he ever did. His wolf was in complete agreement.

"So, uh, what is the exact truth behind the myth of shapeshifters?" His mate asked a little hesitantly, like she was afraid they would deny her an answer. Now that she'd figured their secret out on her own, intelligent minx she was, he saw no point in holding back with her. They'd keep the whole mating aspect of their relationship silent until they figured it out themselves and until she was physically able to 'handle' it, but the rest they could reveal to her.

A single look to his pack mates and Alpha confirmed that they were of the same mind as he.

"What would you like to know?" He asked of her from where he'd leaned himself up against one wall. Jacob's room _was_ small and having all of them clustered into it was quite a feat. Circus clowns would have been awed by them.

"Nothing in particular. Just what makes you different. Hollywood couldn't have gotten much right."

_No kidding._ He snorted inwardly.

"You're right about that." Jake nodded his thick head with a chuckle. "We're not bound by the phase of the moon to shift over. Whether the moon is full or not we can take on our wolf forms. Sam has said that the urge to shift is more intense on a full moon, but it is not necessary.

"Then there's the added strength. We're a lot stronger than any human would ever be capable of being. I'm not quite sure what our limits are in strength. Some time I think that I might test it out, but I know that I have lifted up the Rabbit I'm working on out in the garage entirely on my own and my motorcycle is a snap to get up into the back of your truck.

"Healing is also intensified. Depending upon the severity of the injury by the morning after a night of rest we will be completely healed. I could slice the palm of my hand right now with a pocketknife and it would heal completely under thirty seconds.

"We're fast. Faster in wolf form, but our agility is enhanced in our human forms as well. We were designed to hunt and kill vampires. We can catch them and match them for speed and strength. Our senses are also amplified to the umpth degree. It's how we can know that you're lying. There are subtle variations in scent patterns that reveal to us what people are thinking in comparison to what they're saying. We cannot read minds outside of each others', but we can smell a lie on the wind easily."

"Each others' minds?" Bella questioned with wide doe eyes. "You can read each others' minds?"

"Only in wolf form." Jared interjected.

Jacob nodded. "It's a wolf pack trait. It makes hunting easier. When you can be in the mind of the other hunters it definitely makes bait, capture, and kill a whole lot smoother. No barking needed."

"Although howling is fun at night." Embry blurted with a wide grin.

"Why?" His little mate asked curiously, not seeming the least appalled by any of this.

"It scares the locals."

"Knock it off, Embry." Jacob growled, the Alpha tone leaching into the command. Embry just shrugged his shoulders in acquiescent. It wasn't an important matter to him, Sam knew, so he'd just let the subject drop instead of arguing.

They had all had to learn that lesson the hard way…him the hardest of all. He was still learning that lesson. He needed to pick his battles with his Alpha wisely. He did not mind having Jacob as Alpha, he really did not, but he hated having to be submissive to the Prime. They'd all figured out early on that they were Alphas, but there still needed to be a chain of command within the pack. His wolf's hackles had been mussed when Jacob had claimed his rightful position as Prime and the wolf was still somewhat disgusted that it had lost. Being submissive to another when he was an Alpha was not easy. It was like asking a handicapped man to walk without his cane for about a mile. It could be done, but it wasn't something that you wanted to do or liked doing.

"Can I—can I see what you all look like in wolf form?" Bella questioned bashfully. Looking up at them through her long, black eyelashes had his cock thumping harder at the zipper of his cutoffs to salute her properly.

_Down boy._

"Not tonight, Bella. It's getting even colder out there now that night's setting in and we don't want you getting sicker." Jacob responded calmly, rationally. Bella's retort was not.

"I'm not going to break, Jacob!" She screeched in her cracked voice causing them all to bite back a wince. Not for the first time he regretted having super-sensitive hearing. "I've got a cold, damn it! I'm not invalid. Don't treat me as if I am."

"I am not treating you as an invalid." The Alpha growled back, stalking ever-closer to his mate. Since his wolf did not rise to the apparent challenge upon his mate by the other male Sam was able to keep himself from blocking Jacob's path. He knew that had he been in the same position as Jake that he probably would be the one advancing on her, though it didn't completely pacify the jealous man in him. "I am treating you like the _child_ you are acting as."

"Not this again." She groaned and rubbed at her temples with her own fingers.

"Yes, Bella, _this_ again." Jacob loomed over their mate. Sam still couldn't believe how incredibly fragile she looked compared to them. He didn't doubt, though, that she was not entirely submissive and shy. Oh no. He would never dream of such a thing. Underneath her delicate skin sat a raging inferno just waiting to be tapped. "You are not a child, but you persist to act like one when we only wish to take care of you."

"No," she shot back, her eyes blazing, "I am defending myself against brutish males that think that they know my needs better than I do."

"Did you ever think that maybe we do?" Seth stepped in with a raised brow. Bella's head snapped so quickly in his direction that Sam might have thought that she'd broken her swan-like neck. "You know your body, but we can smell things that you cannot. For example I can smell the lethargy in your scent. Only the sharp spike in your scent, almost musky, that indicates adrenalin is keeping up as it is."

Bella's mouth opened and closed audibly several times before she pinched it closed with a boorish look on her adorable face. He had the incredible urge to take her up into his arms and kiss away her puckered frown.

"I'm _fine_." She insisted waspishly even though they could see her energy being sapped away by the second.

Sam shook his head and decided that it was time to play dirty. It was apparent that their little mate was not one to take orders graciously. She was going to hiss and spit at them any time they tried to tell her what to do. The feral grin that threatened to arise on his face was hard to hide away from his mate's eyes where she might become leery of it. He had never been attracted to women that would let men steamroll over them. It seemed that Bella was of the same mind.

If he couldn't order her, he'd either have to get physically involved with his mate or cleverly maneuver her to wherever he wanted with a few key phrases. Both options would be an easy feat for any of them. Bella was miniscule in size compared to them and they could easily hoist her up and away with a single arm and he was certain that with just the right words they could get her to do as they saw fit.

Now to find the right words…

"Your father let Jacob bring you here so that you could get better faster, Bella." He stated logically. The sound of his voice earned him her full attention. "Charlie's going to be eating what he did before you came back to Forks until you're well enough to go back home or going to the diner. Don't you want to get better to go back home as soon as possible?"

He watched as her eyes widened into saucers before narrowing entirely.

"Asshole." She hissed towards him. Despite the anger she directed his way from the low blow he could only feel smug satisfaction in that fact that she had acquiesced to his point…he could both smell it in her too tempting scent and see it in the sudden drooping of her slim shoulders.

"Good girl." He couldn't help it. He had to say it.

It earned him the finger being flipped in his face before Bella pivoted out of Quil's lap, shoved at him until he'd gotten out of the bed on his own, and then tucked herself haphazardly under the covers.

"Get out." She ordered simply.

Quil, still being the nearest to her in the small room, tucked the covers more securely around her despite her grumbled protests, which were growing progressively weaker now that she was laying down. One by one they padded out of the room on nearly silent feet. Sam saw right before he exited the room, however, Quil steal a lingering kiss to Bella's lips before following after them. Sam gritted his teeth and forced the man in him not to slug Quil in the mouth so hard that his jaw would shatter.

_Not break. I want to hear it shatter like glass. Clink-click-clink._

Before Quil shut the door Sam heard Bella's heartbeat drop off into a steady thrum that indicated her drop-off into dreamland.

They all ended up corralled in the living room with two of the Elders, Billy and Old Quil, darting glances between all of them. He noticed several of the others shooting scalding death glares at the two older men.

"You both are idiots." Quil told both been firmly as soon as he was sitting down on the floor in front of the couch. Billy's and Old Quil's mouths dropped open, but no sound came out. Quil growled angrily. "Bella is too damn small to have any amount of us claim her like that. I felt her in my lap. She is _too small_ to take on all of us in that way."

"That doesn't alter the fact, though, that our wolves are okay with this." Seth interjected smoothly, his eyes glaring at the television which was showing some Discovery Channel film about wolves and pack hierarchy. The irony was not lost on Sam.

"No, it doesn't change how the wolves feel." Quil returned the volley with a little bit of sarcasm dripping from his tone. "But that doesn't mean that fucking Bella consecutively won't permanently handicap her, maybe even _kill_ her. It would. I know it would. So there's something that we're not understanding here if we're all going to claim Bella. Damn it! Why didn't you Elders make sure that shit like this was documented to help the future generations? Isn't that your job in the pack?"

"Don't speak so rudely to your Elders, boy." Old Quil argued back to his grandson. It was one of the few times that the old man had anything but old age glimmering in his cataracts-filled eyes. Old Quil was angry.

Tough shit. They were, too.

"Bella is only human, _gentlemen_." Sam reined in his temper and tried to be reasonable. A mantra played through his head. _Don't get mad. Bella's in the other room. Don't get mad. Bella's in the other room._ "_We_ are not. We are all well endowed and even once on a virgin body, which I believe Bella is, would be punishing. She has a different pain threshold than we do and her body certainly cannot heal as quickly as ours does. Tell me, would you both want it lingering in your minds that your downright stupid declaration resulted in maiming or even killing Bella? Yes, the fault would be on our heads as well, but who would have suggested the whole idea?"

The entire group, with the exception of the two completely human males, were growling furiously. Sam could not bring himself to care that the two men were as pale as ghosts in the presence of their barely leashed fury. His wolf wanted to be set free, to shift over and stand guard over his mate's weakened body. Even the mere idea of them hurting her…of her death…sent a cold lance of pain so sharp through his gut that it burned with the intensity of a sun going out.

He didn't love Bella. He knew that he didn't, but he was attracted to her on a primal level. He had been even before shifting. It was why he'd sought out as much information on her as he could the day he'd seen her at First Beach. With every exaltation in her name only made his respect and likeness for her grow. He knew that it would not take long for the man in him to fall after her heels just as much as the wolf had…

But even without the man loving Bella the wolf would not stand to hear anything remotely sounding 'bad' befalling his mate or a rude word being aimed in her direction. The wolf would not live without its mate and as such neither would the man. She would never know pain by their hands if he could help it, unless her backside needed a lesson that her mind couldn't seem to grasp without the incentive, and she would never be allowed to leave them in death. He wouldn't permit it. She was his mate, his baby girl, his angel sent to earth, and she would walk its surface for as long as he could humanly, and inhumanly, make possible.

By insinuating that they all take her in such a crude way the two men had inadvertently threatened their mate and the wolves were not going to stand for it. She would be happy and healthy, no matter the cost. A budding fire in the region near his heart informed him very succinctly that he would trade his soul to the devil for his little mate's continued existence…even if the man in him was more than a little disturbed by the devotion the wolf was showing.

"We didn't mean to…" Billy began, only to be cut off by his own son.

"Be more careful what you say to, around, or about our mate, _Elder_." If he was not so incensed in his own anger Sam might have been a little surprised by the distant and formal addressing Jacob gave to his father. "You are my father and important to this tribe, but she is our future. I will _not_ permit any sort of discontent near my mate."

To Billy's credit he didn't pale any further than he had been. Old Quil, however, seemed to be turning a little green around the edges.

"We are just as new to this situation as you boys are." Billy attempted to soothe the situation over with a calm, reasonable voice, but none of them were in the mood to be tamed like a domesticated dog.

"Be that as it may," Jared growled out with half-shifted eyes, "it would be advisable to _think_ before you speak."

Sam wasn't entirely certain what Billy was going to say, but he knew in an instant that whatever it was that was going to pour out of his mouth when he opened it once more was going to result in bloodshed. Billy was a pack Elder, a non-shifter, but an Elder nonetheless. He was also their Alpha's father. Unfortunately, he had inadvertently marked himself, as Old Quil had, as a possible threat to their mate. The men in them were having a hard time arguing against punishing them with their wolves.

It had to have been some sort of miracle, or perhaps their little mate's unconscious bond with them building, but Sam heard her heart rate picking up and scented her distress in the air.

"Jacob." Her voice was soft, impossible for any human to hear from where she slept in the Alpha's room, but the desperation in her tone seized all of them like a vice. Sam knew this for a fact because all of the pack's heads pivoted towards where she slept out of their immediate sights.

Jacob responded to her call as soon as the last syllable of his name was out of her mouth. As he stalked past his father he growled warningly.

As soon as he was out of sight Sam cocked a brow at Billy Black. "Bella just saved you, Billy. I do not know what Jacob would have done if you had continued to argue that you are just as much out of the loop as we if Bella had not called out to him. When he returns I would think it would be wise to drop this matter and leave it for us to handle."

"Where Bella is concerned your assumptions will not be welcomed unless requested." Quil was certain to include his own grandfather in the glare he sent the Elder's way.

By the time Jacob returned after easing Bella back to sleep from her upset stomach and a minor nightmare they had all begun to talk about the new measures that were going to be taken with the Cullen's being gone from Forks.

The subject of Bella's eventual claiming, thankfully, was left alone.

* * *

><p>Bella was roused from her sleep by the sensation of flying. Her body was blissfully warm, undoubtedly swaddled in more blankets, but the cooler air of the house breezing across her cheeks caused her to shiver and groan. She turned her head into the nearest heat source.<p>

"Back to bed." She ordered in a raspy voice.

"Talk to Charlie." A male voice retorted smoothly, this one not belonging to Jacob Black.

"Who?" The question hung in the air until she dared to look slowly up the sculpted chest she'd cozened herself into until her eyes caught onto a square jaw and rounded lips. "Sam?"

"First guess. I'm impressed." Sam joked as he easily plopped her down into the reclining chair in the living room. Without another word he unraveled her enough from her downing prison to let one arm hang free and set an old ivory phone receiver into her hand. She stared at it for several pregnant, uncomprehending moments before putting it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"You don't sound so good, Bells." Charlie's voice traveled through the receiver clearly. He sounded worried.

"Hi Dad." She smiled softly even though she knew that he wouldn't be able to see it from his end. "I had an incident earlier. I'm doing better now."

"You don't sound better, Bella." Charlie reiterated with a grunt. "I can come pick you up at any time, Bella. I know I told you that before you left, but you weren't exactly awake when I was telling you that Jacob offered to watch over you while you were sick."

"I'm not really awake right now, either, Dad." She giggled, half-eyeing the mammoth of a Native towering over where she sat. There was a definite smirk on his face. She guessed that he could either hear Charlie's voice from where he stood so close to her, since Charlie's voice was deep enough to carry, or he was just a natural at understanding one-sided conversations. She could only assume that he was a pro at having those one-sided conversations…he was a dominant man from the moment she set her eyes on him and only his final decision would matter to him in the end. She would have thought that that kind of chauvinism would be a turn-off, but it wasn't. She liked men who knew what they wanted and went after it.

Her father's voice drew her back to the here-and-now. Bella's eyes widened when she realized that she'd been ogling the man without thinking. The blush came swiftly thereafter. "You're speaking in full sentences, so that's a step above the grunts you gave me before you left."

"I don't grunt." She whined babyishly. Sam's deep-throated chuckle brought a rush of goosebumps to her skin and an even deeper flush. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him in retaliation.

"No, you just form every word you would normally put into a sentence into a single consonant that sounds suspiciously like a grunt." Cue the tongue. Sam or her father, it didn't matter; they were both males and inherited the gene of obnoxiousness that women lacked…in spades!

"You'll be the first one I call if I need to come home early, Dad." She promised her father. Her eyes snapped to Sam's obsidian ones when she heard his growl reverberate through the room. The sound choked off almost as soon as he realized that she was staring at him. "Jacob and his friends are going to look after me and if they don't I'll be sure to rip them a new one, okay? Will that satisfy you?"

"No." Charlie replied quickly, a jovial, yet almost serious note to his normally rugged timbre. "I'd be satisfied if you called me, your dear old dad, and allowed me to put the fear of God into those boys. I'm the Chief of Police. I'm authorized to use deadly force when necessary."

"Daddy…" she chided, surprising herself by calling her father 'daddy' instead of 'dad'. Daddy was a far more intimate, loving word for a father than 'dad' was. She hadn't used the word since she was a little girl and her parents had still been together. The distance and years separating them had brought more than just awkwardness between them. It had taken weeks to get used to calling Charlie 'dad' instead of his name.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one surprised by her phrasing.

"You–you called me 'daddy'." Charlie seemed to be in awe.

"I guess I did." She whispered back and then smiled remorsefully. "Dad, I...I'm sorry. For everything."

"You did nothing wrong, Bella." His own inner pain shadowed her own when he spoke. "Your mother and I are at complete fault. We may not have been able to save things between us, but we should have handled you better. Your mother just pulled you out of your life…and mine…and I didn't fight nearly as hard for you as I should have."

Bella could still remember that horrid afternoon. She could remember her mother packing up all of her stuff and then moving onto her daughter's things. By the time Charlie had gotten home Renée was already buckling her into the back seat of the car. She'd been told that they were going to go visit Grandma and Grandpa for a while and that Daddy wasn't coming because he had a lot of work to do.

Bella had watched her mother say those final, harsh, hateful words towards her father and then cried as she gawked out the back window at her father's rapidly shrinking form. She understood later on that if her father had decided to stay at the police department instead of coming home early to spend one night with his family that he would have never have known that Renée had left him, along with her, until he got the divorce papers.

They never did go visit Grandma and Grandpa.

She'd been hurt to find out that her father, _Charlie_, had fought so little for her. He'd signed the divorce papers with little more than a 'let her come visit me on summer breaks'. It hadn't taken many years after her parents' separation for her to decide that she didn't want to see her father anymore since he so obviously didn't want a daughter in his life.

She regretted that decision now. They'd all made grave mistakes. Renée had ripped Bella out of her life at such a young, tender age. Charlie hadn't fought for the right to his own daughter. And she…she'd successfully severed her childhood with both of her parents. She'd cut herself away from her father altogether and simply become a guardian figure for her wayward mother despite what their roles should have been.

The hand that settled onto either of her cheeks caused her to gasp and drop the phone down into her lap. Sam was kneeling in front of her, a hard look on his masculine face. His thumbs rubbed at her cheeks. Wetness clung to the calloused pads.

_I'm crying?_

It was a struggle for Bella to pull her face from Sam's meaty palms, not only because he was so strong, but also because the tender gesture was just a tad too intimate for her tastes, though she very much enjoyed it.

"Bella? Bella?" Charlie shouted over the line. She scrambled to pick up the receiver, all the while listening as her father continued to lose his temper. "Damn it, Bella! Are you okay? Bella? If you don't pick up right now I'm driving over there and…"

"Sorry, dropped the phone." The words rushed out of her even as she continued to gawk at the man before her. His thick calves bracketed her own, his hands not-so-idly tracing a soothing pattern into her knees and thighs. His heat seeped down through the blankets and her pajamas to her skin. Could he not see how his nearness threw her off balance?

"Don't do that, Bella." Her father scolded with a semi-relieved huff.

"Sorry." She repeated softly.

"Just," he began, only to cut himself off. She didn't know if he was trying to get reassurances from her or do it himself, but his next words clarified that he was in need of the reassuring. "Are you going to be okay, Bella?"

Bella really looked at Sam, then. He was not Jacob, but something deep down inside was telling her that she was going to be seeing just as much of him as she was of Jacob or the others. His nearly black orbs swallowed her in and she let herself be washed in the currents of emotions floating on the surface. She could read possession, determination, and a not-so-subtle hint of lust in him. She didn't understand how she could possibly see these things, how she could _feel_ them just on the fringe of her own psyche, but she could.

The odd thing was that those feelings showing so clearly to her were not frightening. They were slightly unnerving, yes, but not enough so that she would want to run away. There was something in Sam that she felt she could trust as she trusted Jacob.

"Yeah, Dad. I'll be all right."

"Just promise me that you'll call me if you need anything." His tone dropped a notch, becoming the one that she had learned at a very young age never to disobey. "Anything at all, Bella."

"I promise." The instinct to cross her heart with her finger was difficult to suppress.

"Thank you, Bella. Now, just to reassure me, they are treating you well? Right?"

"They are." She grinned softly when she remembered back to her semi-aware state some time ago when she'd been having a nightmare. It wasn't too bad as far as nightmares go, it was more feelings than anything, but the pure, unrestrained fury she'd felt to her very center had made her sick. She'd called out for Jacob automatically. She had wanted, _needed_, his comfort. Even if what she was suffering through wasn't real she had needed him there with her.

When he'd come into the room she'd been struggling helplessly against the covers. She'd needed to get away. He'd hoisted her up into his arms and rocked her in his lap like a toddler. He hummed something soft, deep, and soothing which reverberated through his chest and into her. In was seemed like seconds, but had to have be dozens of minutes because she had clearly heard him repeat the song over and over again, she had fallen back into slumber.

She hadn't had any other disturbances since Sam had picked her up to answer her father's call.

"All right then. I'm going to wish you a good night now so that you can go back to sleep. I love you, Bells. So much."

"I love you too, Daddy."

She was smiling into the receiver when the call disconnected.

Her eyes drifted to where Sam had retaken his position standing beside her. His hand was held out to her, palm up. She set the phone into the cradle of his hand. Very softly she said, "thank you for waking me up."

"He's your father." Sam replied lightly, settling the phone back to where it belonged on the side-table. "Why would I not wake you up to talk to him?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you going out of your way for me. Actually, I'm going to have to thank you all for what you're doing for me."

"You don't need to thank us, Bella." The man spoke with such sincerity that it was hard not to agree with him. "We'd do anything to help you. You're…important to all of us."

"Why?" He looked distinctly uncomfortable at that question.

"You're pack." He supplied after a moment of extended thought. "You may not have the Wolfen gene, but you know our secrets. I have little doubt that you'll guard those secrets closely especially if your reputation for the supernatural precedes you and can be taken at full value. That brings you under our protection."

Bella flushed a little and scratched at the back of her neck guiltily. "Guess you guys had to have known about the coven. They were the ones that caused you all to go wolfy after all."

"Wolfy?" The big man boomed with laughter, his chest shaking with mirth.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, little one." He snorted in a very crude way, but Bella couldn't help but think the trait endearing. Snorting when he laughed made him less perfect…more human. And more appealing if that was even possible. "It is just that I have never heard phasing called 'going wolfy' before. I'd suspect that we'd be laughed out of the shapeshifter community if that phrase got out."

"There's more of you all?" She asked with sudden intrigue. It was Sam's turn to shrug.

"Not too sure, actually. I'd have to think that there were. There are bloodsuckers all over the world. We wolves were born to hunt them. Surely we're not the only ones expected to take down the entire Cold community when our territory is here?"

"That makes sense."

And it did. She didn't like to think of the two supernatural species dueling it out for ultimate dominance, possibly even killing each other off entirely, but it was logical that wherever a coven of vampires were, a shape-shifting pack was sure to arise. They were natural enemies if the Quileute legends were true to form, which they seemed to be of the few she had heard.

"Would you like to go back to bed, Angel?" The endearment threw her for a second, but not overly much. Men tended to use pet names for various reasons…one of the main ones because they couldn't remember the woman's name. Sam knew her name, so she guessed that he either had some feelings for her, he liked the pet name better than her real name, he wanted to get a rise out of her, or any other of the several reasons available.

"No."

The truth was that now that she was sitting back up and conscious she wasn't all that tired anymore. She didn't doubt that in an hour or two she'd be ready to topple back over onto a mattress, but for now she was awake.

"How about we get you something to eat, then? Your stomach should be calmed enough to take and hold a meal now."

"I'm not really…" Bella was cut off of her own rejection by her stomach muscles spasming and causing a low rumble to travel from wall to wall. She had to bite her lip to hold back the hysterical giggles at the sound. "Okay, I guess I _am_ a little hungry."

"A little?" In a single stride Sam was directly in front of her. Before she could think to abject she was being hoisted up into his thick, brawny arms. Curling her hands around the back of his neck she could feel that muscle-wise he wasn't very different from Jacob. "Angel, that growl could have been mistaken for a grizzly protecting her cubs."

_That's right. Keep blushing. If you keep it up then at this rate you'll be staying that way. It's just like getting your face stuck._

Sometimes Bella really hated the inner-her. She could be such a smart-ass.

"I don't want to eat too much." She spoke shyly. She wasn't used to being doted on. She cooked for Charlie most of the time, kept the house clean, and when she still lived in Phoenix she all but served as her own mother's mother. "I can just eat toast if Jake has it."

"You'll eat more than that." Sam assured her firmly. "You're too skinny. I know you're sick right now, but you should really eat more."

"I'm not too skinny." She hissed, anger creeping in on her. "I'm healthy."

She hated when people called her skinny. Back in Phoenix a couple of her teachers had asked if she was anorexic or bulimic. It had been more than just a little insulting. She ate right, kept as fit as she could while being so danger-prone, and enjoyed her sweet tooth as much as the next girl. No one had the right to say that she had an eating disorder just because she didn't gain weight as easily as other girls.

"Calm down, Angel. I'm not trying to upset you." He shifted her easily through the doorway before settling her down onto one of the kitchen countertops. The Black's kitchen wasn't large or grand, but it had descent counter space and a warm, homey feel to it. All the wooden cabinets and dark-tiled countertops lent to the home's rustic feel. A flower-box sat just outside of the window over the sink.

"I'm not underweight." She mumbled under her breath belligerently.

"Bella, my angel, I was just trying to say that you are very light to me and that I do not feel comfortable with you eating only toast. That is all." His hands were braced to either side of her hips. His face hovered directly above her own.

"This coming from a shapeshifter that can hoist up a small car." When she attempted to turn her head away from him he followed her with his own face.

"Look at me, Bella. Please." It was the 'please' that made her do as he asked. If he had been less polite about it and simply tried to order her she would have continued to try and tune him out, no matter how impossible a feat that was.

His dark eyes bore into her own. Something clicked in her mind. Somehow, in some way, she knew this man. Deep down, past her outer shell and the inner-her that felt it was her job to act as her own Jiminy Cricket, some basic part of her knew and trusted this man. Something in her wanted this man was a passion that would rival that of Adam and Eve.

"I would never insult you, Bella. You have to understand that. I wish only to care for you and for you to respond in kind." One hand rose to slip thick fingers through locks of her hair. The sensation of his calloused fingers lightly tugging on her hair sent a pool of warmth trickling down into her nether regions where it was determined to exit in a rush of pure satisfaction…if she allowed herself that pleasure. Still his eyes remained riveted onto hers. "I'll defend you, Bella, even from myself, if that will earn your favor and keep it there. I want you to come to think of me as your – friend. Can you do that, Angel? Do you think that we could come to be friends?"

_Yes_. Her logical mind supplied. She could be his friend with a little bit of time. That deep-down connection, one she felt even years ago around Jacob, Quil, and Embry, told her that she _could_ be his friend.

The only problem was that her libido, her long-neglected inner horn-dog wanted something completely different.

_Jump him._ It whispered to her subconscious. _Look at his lips. They're just begging to be sucked on. And his eyes…oh my! Could they get any darker in the throes of passion? You could find out. All you have to do is…_

Bella threw the proverbial cold bucket of water on that train of thought. She'd ignored her raging hormones for this long. She could keep right on ignoring them now. Besides, when she finally decided to indulge herself in the sins of the flesh she would do it with a man she cared deeply for, possibly even loved, and her body would not be weakened by some thrice-damned virus.

As it was, her libido had some residual control on her normally logical mind and obedient body. Her eyes dropped down ever so slightly to take in the round, dark lips of the man before her. Not letting herself get talked out of what she wanted to do by any completely valid complaints by her subconscious or demeaning remarks she leaned forward and upward until her lips touched onto his.

She moaned into his mouth almost immediately.

Whereas Jacob tasted of hot-chocolate and mint, Sam had a distinct flavor of coffee and nutmeg. She couldn't say who tasted better or who was more potent. All she knew was that her body wanted to taste more of him. She ached to know if the rest of him was as tantalizingly scrumptious.

Yet she pulled away with a sheepish, somewhat shaky half-smile.

Sam's eyes were an inferno of poorly contained lust.

"S-sorry. I-I j-just…" She gulped, setting her fingers to her tingling lips.

She was startled to find her fingers being pulled away by a manacle of a hand tugging at her wrist. Sam's eyes burned down into her lips before he lunged forward like the predator that he was. There was no hesitation, no holding back. Sam's mouth suckled, nipped, and claimed her lips as effectively as a brand.

Sam's hands had come to cup her hips between them. His fingers kneaded at the fleshy mass and tugged her slightly closer to him on the ledge so that her legs bracketed his hips. From her distance pushed back away from him still she could not feel his erection, but from the pure vivacity in the kiss she had no doubt that he _did_ have one. Her own sex was screaming with the dominance, lust, and possessiveness that Sam was showing her with this one, single kiss.

One hand disappeared from her hips to curl into her hair. Sam tugged sharply downward to tilt her head back. As a result her mouth opened in a pleasured gasp. His tongue surged into her mouth like a hot poker and seared her to her very core. His thick tongue explored and mapped her mouth as if it was an explorer charting unfamiliar territories for future travelers. She would bet money against him sharing his findings with anyone, but she could sure as heck enjoy his prowling.

When Sam pulled away she whimpered and tried to follow his mouth, but with his fingers still wound into her hair as tightly as they were she couldn't achieve that goal. Her breathing was labored, as was his. Her eyes had slipped into half-mast. Her core wept for attention that she would not voice aloud, though by the subtle twitch of his nostrils she could only guess that he could smell her heavy arousal.

"Never," he began heavily, the words dripping from his mouth as if from God himself, "apologize for going after something that you want."

Bella stared at him uncomprehendingly for several minutes. His words plinked around in her skull like pin-ball ball bearings until finally they dropped into their appropriate receiving holes. Her parted lips, now swollen as proof of their shared frenzy, snapped shut almost audibly.

_I can't believe I just let myself do that._

Seeming to sense her sudden downward turn in emotions, Sam placed a much gentler kiss to her tender lips, released her hair, and turned around to go about making something for her to eat.

She only watched him idly. If asked later, she knew that for the life of her she would never be able to recall what he was making or how he went about making it. He could have place rat poison in the food and she wouldn't have been any wiser to it until she keeled over after taking a bite or two of the final results.

Her mind was directed inward as the inner-her went on another tirade. Why couldn't she open her stupid mouth before or while she was letting her libido rule her and stop the situation before it could get any worse?

_Because_, her subconscious supplied acerbically, _I'm just as sexually frustrated as the rest of you is!_

She was tempted to call her subconscious a bitch, but in the end she'd only be insulting herself. She and her subconscious were one being, but sometimes she couldn't help but think that the inner-her had it in for her. She supposed that she was just a tiny bit crazy to talk to herself, but honestly, who didn't on some level.

_At least I don't talk to myself out loud. Charlie'd lock me away._

Sighing, she allowed herself a few more minutes of self-pity and degradation before focusing as much of her attention on Sam as she could.

"So, um, where are the others?" She directed towards his wide, corded back. How hadn't she noticed that it was still bare from earlier before she'd fallen asleep?

"Some of them are out patrolling. A few are gathering supplies from around the Reservation and their homes. The rest are at the Cabin."

"Cabin?"

"It's more like a lodge. Big place. We're renovating it for future use. Our pack will need the room, anyway. Using each others' homes for meetings just isn't conducive to pack life." His gaze shifted to her from over his shoulder. A crooked kind of smile came onto his lips. "You'll like it."

"I don't think I'll be around enough to enjoy it." She tried to joke with him, but the statement only seemed to make him tense up and glower at the wall past her.

"You will." He bit out before returning to his cooking.

The awkwardness clung thickly to the air around them. Bella fought not to squirm where she sat on the counter. She felt bad for upsetting him, however she did that, but she wasn't exactly sure how to repair the damage. She had never been the best conversationalist.

"Tell me about yourself, Bella."

"Huh?"

Sam glanced at her again, only this time his eyes weren't gleaming. He had the upset look on his face that Edward had had when he'd rescued her in Port Angeles. It was the look that told her that he was desperate for a distraction from whatever thoughts were suddenly plaguing his mind.

"Tell me about yourself."

"Like what?"

"What your childhood was like? What some of your favorite things are? What do you aspire to be? Is there anything you really want? Just tell me about _you_."

"Well, uh," Bella glanced to the neatly polished, yet severely overused wood floors of the kitchen. She only hoped that this would sufficiently distract Sam because all this conversation was going to do for her was make her feel even more discomfited.

"My favorite color is blue. I love lasagna and sitting down in front of a fire with a good book. That was hard to do in Phoenix where it was always hot. My favorite book is '_The Tiger's Woman_' by Celeste De Blasis."

"I've never heard of it."

"It's older. You can't really find it in libraries. I actually found a copy on accident when I went to an antique shop with my mother one year. I picked it up, skimmed through it, and bought it for a dollar. It is without a doubt _the_ best book I have ever read."

"It sounds like you're very passionate about reading."

"I am." She traced circles into the counter with her fingertip. "I was always a bit of a bookworm. There's not really much that I _won't_ read. Sometimes I like a TV show or movie more than I do the book it was made off of, but not often. Honestly, one of the best vampire and werewolf series out there is '_The Southern Vampires_' novels by Charlaine Harris. They ended up making it into a TV series, too."

"'_True Blood_', right?"

"Yeah." Her eyes were alight when she glanced at his still turned back. He was at the stove now instead of the countertop. "How did you know?"

"I've flicked by it once or twice. Never sat down to watch it, though."

"It's very, uh, sexual. The books are the lesser of the two in those regards, but the books are better. I think they changed the television series too much from the books. I know they mess up with movies all the time, but I had hoped that with an entire season devoted to one book that they could have followed the plot-line better." Bella blushed deeply. "You, uh, wouldn't know that, though, would you? You said you didn't watch the show after all."

Sam chuckled. "I don't read much, either, but I do know what you mean. They used to do that to the comics I read when I was younger. When they put them on TV I got so excited, but then they just ended up butchering the story."

"Exactly." She whispered, happy that he hadn't outright laughed at her nonsense.

"What about your childhood?"

"I didn't have one." She replied quickly, flinching once the words were out of her mouth. Sam whirled halfway around as soon as she'd spoken. One eyebrow was cocked in curiosity, but his eyes were screaming for an explanation. Bella exhale heavily. "What I meant was that after my parents divorced I kind of had to grow up a lot quicker than I wanted to.

"My mother is a bit of a…I guess you'd call her a flake. She just couldn't stay still. She was always doing something new, seeing someone new, or moving someplace new. She dragged me around for all of it. My mother is like a big-little kid. A lot of the time I was the one that served as her shoulder to cry on."

"That's not right." Sam growled. He was no longer looking at her and his shoulders were stiff.

"It's not fair, either, but there's rarely anything in life that _is_ fair." Bella smiled dismally. "I used to envy my friends and their connections with their mothers. I love my mom. How can I not? I just sometimes wished that she could be the parent that I needed her to be instead of the kid she wanted to be."

"And Charlie?"

"Mom kept me moving around so much that I didn't get to see him a whole lot unless it was summer break. When I got older I grew mad with him. I was upset that he didn't fight more for me. If he had I had thought that maybe I might have had some semblance of a normal life. I kind of just stopped visiting after a while. We're all better now, but I wish that we could all go back in time and fix at least a few of our mistakes."

Silence reined between them for several moments. Bella's feet circled in the air like a child's when they were perched in a chair high off the ground. Sam continued to cook whatever it was he was cooking in stoic silence. She pondered continuing on with another subject, but then the man surprised her by offering up conversation of his own.

"I never got to know my father." He supplied softly.

Bella kept quiet, silently urging him to continue.

"My father, Joshua Uley, came to the Reservation from another state entirely about five years before I was born. He and my mother, Allison, fell in love fairly quickly. Barely three months after they'd met I was conceived. My mother died while giving birth to me. I think my father blamed me, at least partially, for her death. He left when I was about four years old. I don't remember much about him, only that he used to always be angry with or at me. After he left Billy Black, Seth's father Harry, and Quil's father Big Quil, helped to raise me. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what would have happened to me."

"I'm sorry, Sam."

He shrugged. "There's nothing to be sorry over. We all have a certain fate that we're meant to see out. Every decision we make in our lives follows along that path. No matter how much I may not like it, it was meant to be. And if it wasn't for what I have gone through in my life I wouldn't be the man I am today. Honestly, I'm happy with how I've turned out so far."

She had to grin at the smug satisfaction in his tone. She suspected that he had a self-appreciative smirk on his handsome face.

"You're not bad," she ribbed him with joviality, "but I've definitely seen better." _Lying to yourself, aren't you?_ "Give me a guy with a few more inches of height and another fifty pounds or so…yummy." She laughed outright when he sent her a half-hearted glare over his shoulder.

"Would you like another example of exactly why I am as good as I am?"

_No more blushing! I'm going to break something at this rate!_

"N-no." She stuttered. She needed to clear her throat to continue without sounding like a ninny. "I guess you're good enough."

"Keep pushing it, Angel. Keeping pushing it."

Bella turned her head away from him.

"Food's ready."

For the first time she truly focused on the meal that the man had been preparing. It seemed to be some kind of broth. Her nose twitched as she attempted to take in the robust scent of the food in the bowl. She could only catch a faint whiff of it through her clogged nose, but even that was enough to make her stomach roar with a vengeance. Sam shook his head on a laugh.

"Let's get you fed." She eeped when one of his arms shot out in a move too fast for any human to mimic, curled around her waist, and hauled her up into his chest. The blanket stayed pinned between them even as she wrapped her arms around his neck for support. Her feet dangled more than a few inches off of the ground.

"You can't hold me like this! You'll drop something." And she hoped it wouldn't be _her_.

"I won't drop anything." The man promised smoothly. His strides were quick and smooth as he carried her seemingly effortlessly back into the living room. She wasn't able to hide her wide eyes.

"Don't look at me like that." Sam chortled as he slipped her back onto the couch.

"Well, I'm going to have to get used to thinking of you guys as something more than human. Right now I can almost forget that you're not average until you start carting me around like a child." Sam smiled at her indulgently before placing the bowl into her lap. A spoon already sat in the swirling mixture.

"Eat." It was a monosyllabic order that, surprisingly, didn't sound overly rude due to the warmth he put in the single sound.

She didn't start eating immediately. She watched him take a seat at her feet, his wide back warming her legs, and flick on the outdated television set. Whereas Charlie had a flatscreen, a relatively recent purchase since she'd moved to Forks, Billy Black had a large Panasonic that looked to have come out just before flatscreens became popular. Sam flipped through the channels carelessly until he came upon a rerun of one of '_The Amazing Race_'s.

"Do you like this show?" He inquired instead of putting the remote back at his side.

"Why?"

"If you don't like it we won't watch it." The big man informed her simply. She knew that if she'd been eating she would have probably embarrassed herself by doing a spit-take. She was positive that men weren't normally this courteous. First Jacob and then Sam. As far as she knew, men were supposed to be clueless about women and their desires.

_Obviously they never got the memo_.

"Uhm, yeah. I like it."

It took her a short time more to build up the nerve to eat. She didn't actually lift the spoon up until Sam shot her a distinct 'you better get to it, girl' look.

While she ate Sam and she made idle talk. By the time she'd polished off most the entire bowl she'd discovered that Sam had a true love for swimming and running even before he shifted over. He was a math wiz, something she was determined to take advantage of since she was miserable with anything involving numbers, and even took online classes after he'd graduated high-school to get a teaching degree. She beamed at him when he told her that. It was plain to see that he was prideful of getting that degree and she couldn't help but feel a little proud of him as well. She may not have known him well, but she had always found it easy to be happy for others' achievements.

He'd ended up digging into her virtual cesspool of past experiences to discover that she'd travelled all across America with her mother and never lived in one place for more than a handful of months until she'd moved back to Forks. She told him that she wasn't sure what she wanted to be when she graduated, although deep down she had a desire that she was _not_ going to voice out loud to anyone. He seemed to sense her hesitation in that response, but he didn't push her on it. He also discovered that she had always wanted to see 'Beauty and the Beast' on Broadway and hoped to one day have a massive, top-of-the-line kitchen when she was settled down in her own home.

A peculiar gleam came into his eyes when she spoke those two wishes out loud, so she dared not speak any more on the subject of her non-fulfilled desires.

Sam seemed surprised, yet deliriously happy, when she handed him the near empty bowl of broth back to him.

"It was very good. That wasn't a canned broth, was it?"

"Nope." He assured her with a wide smile. "Most of the guys, including me, learned to cook at a young age since our folks, or guardians, were hopeless in the kitchen. This broth was some of what was left from last night's meal. I cooked last night."

"Talented, aren't you."

"Yes ma'am."

"Cocky, too." The look he gave her was distinctly smoldering.

"You have no idea." As he pivoted she noted the jagged ridge in the crotch of his too-tight cut-offs. Just barely catching sight of that piece of anatomy gave her a clear understand of why dogs tended to hang their tongues out of their mouths when they were excited. The dry air would be needed to soak up the drool pooling in her mouth.

_Dear God, are they all that big?_ She wondered. From what she'd felt from Quil's and Jacob's pants she could only estimate their length to be around ten inches. Maybe longer. Penises weren't supposed to be that long, were they? Surely there wasn't a single female body that could take the kind of punishment a cock like that would give them!

_And I've been tempted to jump those same cocks._ Her head drooped with shame. _I'm going to die. Yep. I'm going to keel right over and die of embarrassment if I keep throwing myself at them. Please, please just let the floor open up on me and suck me into it._

Her prayers were not answered.

"Why the long face, Angel?"

Bella's head snapped up so quickly that her neck popped. The sensation wasn't painful or uncomfortable, but is certainly made a loud noise. Sam seemed to find it hilarious if his sudden outbreak of snorting laughter was anything to go by.

"I thought you said you wouldn't laugh at me?" She grumbled lightly.

"I'm not." He spoke between shuddering laughter. "I'm laughing _with_ you."

And he was. Somewhere between when he'd started laughing and just then she'd slipped into her own fit of girlish giggles and breathy chuckles. It wasn't something that she could control. Hearing another person laughing just made her need to laugh, too.

Sam came to sit beside her this time, one of his arms draping over the back of the couch to rest above her shoulders. The very feminine part of her longed to lean into his warm side and breathe him in. Too bad her nose was still revolting.

Damn.

The muscles in his sides and along his chest seemed to ripple with his laughter. She was captured by the sight. Like the others his chest was as smooth as silk, or at least she thought it was since there was no hair there. His russet colored skin contrasted strongly with her own snowy complexion, but that and his sheer size and power compared to her own sent her libido zinging. Even just sitting next to him she felt small and feminine.

Screw liberal women. I'm all for equality of the sexes, but I want a man that's going to be strong, handsome, dependable, and strong-willed. I won't settle for a pansy.

Her logic told her that the desire she felt for Jacob, Sam, and all the others was a part of her inherited genetics. Back before money meant everything men got the favors of women because he was the strongest and could pass on the best genes to future offspring. A woman did not pick a man that was scrawny and a push-over. Those men would not survive in the real world and if those genes passed onto her children then the chances were good that her children would not survive either. Her baser self wanted these men because physically they fit the bill of exactly what she wanted passed onto her children and protecting her.

Her higher intellect knew, though, that she wanted them on another level entirely. They were prime specimens of the male species, even if they were partly wolf, but they were also good men that sent her heart fluttering. They weren't brutes, not really. They were determined, but not so pig-headed that they could be called male chauvinist pigs. She admired that and desired it.

It was why her insides were quivering with need at this very moment.

Bella hadn't even realized she'd been ogling him until she felt his fingers clip onto her chin and tilt her head up and back. Her eyes locked onto his only to find the same barely veiled desire shadowed in his eyes.

"I'm going to kiss you again." He ground out huskily, a soothing purr ricocheting through her bloodstream.

She knew that she should push him away and say no, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead she brought her hands up over his Pecs, shaking by the time they reached the back of his head due to the ultra-smooth texture of him, and curled her fingers into his hair. She tugged him towards her with wanton need. She'd call herself a slut later, she knew, but right now all she understood at this point was that she _needed_ this contact. She needed him to kiss the life out of her and make her forget.

"Kiss me." She breathed out heavily, her eyelids dropping to half mast.

Sam was only too eager to comply with her wishes.

His lips slanted over hers ever so slightly. She pushed her mouth into his and tugged his head closer in the hopes that this time he wouldn't be able to pull away.

Bella traced her tongue along his lips curiously at first, merely savoring the taste of him, before she pulled his back into her own mouth to nip on his lower lip. She smirked when he groaned into her mouth. When his lips parted to make the lustful sound she snaked her tongue into his own moist cavern and all but purred herself at the concentration of his flavor.

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><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

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><p>By the time her legs lost their stiffness and her hips unlocked she fell forward into Sam's chest. Her breathing huffed out against the naked plains of his chest. A shuddering sigh escaped her and him at the same time.<p>

"I just came in my pants." Sam seemed astounded by the statement that just popped out if his mouth.

Bella was even more startled by the voice that carried directly after his.

"You're not the only one, _Beta_."

Bella's eyes widened as she took in the seething form of Jacob in the front doorway. Behind and beside him stood the others. All of them had a mixture of disbelief, rapture, and rage etched onto their faces. Glancing downward she felt her jaw literally unhinge when she saw the large wet-spots in each and every one of their cut-offs. She didn't think that it was physically possible for a guy, unless he was really young and knew very little about sex, to come in his pants. They had more control over themselves.

_Didn't they?_

As it was the only thing she could seem to think was; _did I really just pleasure myself on this man with the others watching and make them all come in their pants?_

Maybe the ground could just open up now so she could avoid the mortification of being caught in this compromising position?

She highly doubted that her luck was that good.

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. There'll be more to come, I assure you. I know that some of you are upset with me always leaving it at cliff-hangers, but it is necessary. I assure you. How else would I keep your interest?

Just so you know, each of the pack is going to get a certain amount of notice in this story. They are all different men and have had different experiences in life and Bella is going to help them through any problems they have individually. Some scenes will be hot and spicy while others may be more subdued, but Bella's going to find out how truly sexual wolves are very soon.

Also, I want it to be made clear that Bella had **NO** blood relation with any of her wolves. I don't agree with incest and the guys will not be pleasuring each other (some of them WILL be related by blood). They may be a pack, but I don't abide by that 'freaky' stuff. Lol.

Anyway, I sincerely hope ya'll will stick around for the next chapter in the next week or two.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	6. Chapter 6: Taking Matters In Hand

**Chapter Six: Taking Matters In Hand**

"This is so mortifying." Bella mumbled into her hands, which had risen to shield her gloriously enflamed face from all of the men in the room.

She was still perched in Sam's lap, the evidence of their shared ride sticky between them. Said man didn't seem to be at all perturbed with their current position. His left arm was still wrapped snugly around her back and his right hand still cupped her sex in that _very_ intimate way. A smug grin tugged at the side of his mouth that was not facing the others. She didn't dare point it out to them, either, because she sure as snot did not want another fight breaking out between them.

…Even if a simmering pot of anger was bubbling up in the pits of her stomach.

_What happened to wolfish senses? He had to have known that they were standing there. The only question is, for how long?_ Bella convinced herself that once she had gotten over the indignity of being caught with Sam like this, especially when he was aware that they were not alone, she was going to do her utter best to see exactly how much of a pain threshold a shapeshifter had.

The other men marched into the room with hard looks on their faces. Jacob seemed to be the most upset, but at least his body wasn't erupting in a wave of fur and claws. Once the door was slammed shut behind them, the concussion of it literally shaking the walls, a heaviness came into the air around them.

"Care to explain yourself, Beta?" Jacob demanded in a deep, rumbling base that had her libido steadily reawakening. It seemed that her whole near-fetish for dominant men was coming to bite her in the ass.

_Stupid thing doesn't know what's good for it. Stay down and we'll talk about all this foolishness later!_ She was a little sickened by her brash behavior, but right now she had to keep the fur from flying. Her libido had had its reward for the next year as far as she was concerned and could just flutter away until she deemed that it was needed once more.

Unfortunately, all the testosterone in the room was making her hotter than Calcutta in July.

"Not particularly, Alpha." Sam replied flatly. There was no anger, no remorse, no _nothing_ in his tone. To her it sounded like he could be talking about the weather or something else of no consequence. The simmering pot was beginning to boil.

"You should have thought about her needs, Sam." Jacob growled out, his fists clenched low at his sides.

"I did." This time there was a hint of smugness in Sam's tone. "I made her come."

_Queue rosy cheeks. Drop the head. Hunch your shoulders. Nibble on the lower lip. There you go. Perfect imitation of a sufficiently ashamed female caught in the act of carnal pleasure_. Sometimes she hated her inner monologue.

Yet she felt her fingers curl, nails and all, into Sam's shoulders with her checked-in anger. She'd do her utmost to keep the others calm. She'd look pathetic and allow herself to wallow in her shame for the moment, but as soon as she was certain that the others weren't going to rip Sam's skin off like the husk over a corn of cob she was going to do exactly that. She didn't know why the others seemed as infuriated as they were, but at present all she cared about was seeing that the man she was perched upon got what was coming to him…from _her_.

"See what you did?" Sam barked suddenly, his cupping hand disappearing from her moist crotch to band with his other arm around her back. His left hand, the dry one, slipped up over the back of her neck to brace the base of her skull. A low purr echoed out of his chest. Before she really knew what was happening the tenseness was disappearing from her shoulders and spine and she was fully leaning into his burning body.

_Shit, how'd he do that?_

"Shh. It's okay, Angel. You did nothing wrong." She suspected that he shot a look at the other males in the room before adding a firm, "_nothing_," to the end of that statement. Apparently her meek-act was working like a charm. Sam wouldn't know what hit him.

"Bella?" She turned her head slightly to see Jared holding his hand out for her. "Let's go get you a change of clothes, okay?" His nostrils flared as he took in the scent of cum in the room. She was almost curious to know what it was like to be able to smell the kinds of things he could with that nose of his. Actually, she'd murder just to be able to smell _anything_ right now.

"I – uh," she started shakily, looking between Sam and the other men. Jared rolled his eyes.

"They won't maim or kill each other, Bella." He assured her with a faint smile. His eyes hardened slightly when he looked at Sam, but they really didn't seem to be looking for blood _exactly_. It was something slightly darker and more involved than she was comfortable with. "Sam just has to have a talk with them about his actions."

"I asked him to." She blurted out. All of their eyes darted to her with genuine surprise. Her blush returned.

"I started this. It was my fault. Please, don't be mad at Sam." Bella gave the man whose lap she was straddled over a watery smile. "I – thank you, Sam. I shouldn't have asked or done what I did, but thank you for giving it to me." She'd leave out for now that he was going to get it worse than Schwartz from '_A Christmas Story_' when Ralphie told his mother the other boy taught him the 'F-dash-dash-dash word' for embarrassing her like he did.

"What did I say about needing to thank me, Bella?" He responded with a bit of annoyance. She ducked her head away in order to avoid looking him in the eye. It was both in a need to hide her furious intentions as well as the slight pang of sorrow for having irritated him.

_I'm pissed with him and yet I can't help but care what he thinks of me. How bad is that?_

"I'll go change now." She spoke as a way of diversion.

"I'll take you there." Jared spoke softly as he aided her off of his packmate's lap. As soon as she was standing she shifted the blankets back up over her shoulders and around her arms. Without Sam's body heat she was feeling extremely cold again. Jared placed a proprietary hand on her lower back and escorted her slow-moving body into the bedroom.

All Bella could think was, "what have I done now?"

* * *

><p>Jacob brutally pummeled the urge to leap at his Beta and pop his head off like a Dandelion. Jared was right. They wouldn't hurt each other. Not permanently anyway.<p>

That didn't mean, however, that the moment Bella settled down for the night that he wasn't going to take his Beta in hand and teach him what it truly means to be the Prime Alpha. He may have been younger than the other wolf and phased later, but he had the purest lines. He was genetically the strongest wolf for the pack and he wouldn't tolerate disobedience or a shift in the hierarchy.

"Don't look at me like that, Jacob." Sam snarled, his eyes threatening to shift over. "You should know just as well as I do that resisting Bella is impossible. Beyond her normal scent it's like there's something else. I can't ignore it."

He was loath to admit it, but his Beta was right about that. He wouldn't accept the excuse, but it was a legitimate point.

He hadn't taken any notice to it before, at least not noteworthy attention, but when Bella began to secrete that wonderful lube of hers through her nether-lips another scent became potent in the air. It was like an aphrodisiac mixing with the ultimate pheromones. Jacob had been unable to stop himself from bringing her pleasure and taking pleasure of his own from her tiny body. How could he hold it against Sam for _needing_ to do the same?

He couldn't entirely, but he wanted to.

It was only that fact alone that would keep him from killing his Beta. That and the fact that he would not torture his mate that way by taking one of her other mates from her.

"Why are all of you here, anyway? I thought you all weren't going to be back until 9:30?" He spared a look at the clock and noticed that they were almost an entire half an hour early.

"Billy and Old Quil are still at the Cabin double-checking the papers." Paul answered, his face pensive. "We all got a little…sidetracked a few minutes ago."

"What?" Sam's brows shot together even as he drew to his feet. "What are you talking about?"

"He's talking about how in the same instant about ten minutes ago we all got erections hard enough to break concrete." Seth interjected gruffly, looking down to his soiled pants. "It seems that we were all drawn back here. My balls were fucking aching. All I could seem to think was 'I have to get to Bella' and that's when we all bumbled in here just in time to see you two going at it."

"We're transmitting." Sam surmised with disbelief. His eyes were wide and the wolf had disappeared from them giving them back their blackened shade. "She felt when we were all angry earlier and we felt her arousal."

"That's why we all just ejaculated in our pants like we were a bunch of kids again." Embry sneered at his pants, but Jacob knew that his brothers had to be feeling the same fulfillment as he was.

It didn't make sense, but then it kind of did. They were shapeshifters. They proved that the impossible was possible. He'd been at the Cabin with his father checking over the Deeds to the building when his cock had suddenly, and painfully, become erect. His first thought had been of Bella and he'd taken off running as fast as he could for his home where he knew her to be. He hadn't been alone. The others had congregated around the house from wherever they had been with the same desperate, starved looks on their faces.

Almost as soon as they'd broken through the doorway Bella had come all over Sam's lap. And she'd somehow brought them all over with her. It wasn't something that he could control. It had literally felt like he was being pleasured by her instead of standing across the room watching. He could almost swear to it that her vaginal walls had tightened around his cock as she came, but he knew that he had not been sheathed within her.

"This has to be something else with the mating that we didn't know about." Seth sniffed the air again and growled. "Jake, do you have any spare pants? I don't want to have to run back to my house right now and I sure as Hell don't want to walk around smelling my own semen."

He nodded. "Once Bella has changed you all can snatch a pair of my cut-offs. I have enough in the closet." He shifted where he stood, entirely uncomfortable with the stickiness in his pants.

Jacob tried to think on if he had done anything to trigger this new development. He wasn't sure that he could. He remembered their heated kiss at Charlie's and then when he'd suckled at her long, graceful neck in the bathroom, but he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary that he could think of. He cursed inwardly, wanting to contact his ancestors from beyond the grave and rip out their intestines for not recording something, _anything_ that might help them all now.

They continued to contemplate in silence until Bella came shuffling out of the bedroom with her head hanging slightly. Jared's hands bracketed her hips from the outside of the blanket she had wrapped tightly around her. Despite how guilty she looked he couldn't help but find her adorable. She was just so tiny and fragile looking that it was hard not to feel any attachment to her.

Paul and Seth pivoted as soon as she'd entered the living room and made their way towards his bedroom, but not before placing soft kisses to her forehead. Her eyes widened significantly after them. She a little startled by the contact, it seemed.

Hell, so was he.

"Come and sit down, sweetheart." Jared enticed from where he'd taken a seat on the couch. It seemed that while Bella had been changing Jared had overheard his Alpha permitting the others to change into new pants. He'd donned a pair of his cut-offs before bringing Bella back out into the living room. The human in him bristled and wondered if his little mate had seen the other male's penis before his own. Jake didn't know if he could stomach being undermined by any more of his pack today.

Apparently reading the look on his face Jared spoke in a hushed tone that Bella would not be able to hear well, most likely thinking that Jared was mumbling to himself. "We both changed with our backs turned."

Jacob nodded on a sigh, more relieved than he could have ever imagined. The wolf may have been content with the other males being Bella's mate, but it definitely did not appreciate the challenge being opposed by its Beta and possibly the others. Instinctively he knew that when the mating came in finality that something was going to have to be devised to prevent bloodshed. As Prime Alpha he _knew_ that Bella was his first, but the others were Alphas as well.

_Damn my ancestors to Hell and back. I'm not going to survive the day, let alone until the claiming._

Each of them poured out and back into the room in order to change clothes. Bella remained silent where she sat beside Jared, her hands keeping the blanket tucked tightly around her entire body like a cocoon. Jake was the last to change, but when he returned he came to stand directly in front of his mate. His eyes bore down into hers and he breathed in her addictive scent.

"Yes?" She queried with a cocked brow.

Not speaking, Jacob tightened the blankets even more around her miniscule form, ignoring her yip of surprise, and hoisted her up into his arms. She jerked once in what he guessed to be an attempt to wrap her swaddled arms around his neck for support, but otherwise remained still. He had to smirk at that. At least she knew that she was going nowhere unless he allowed her to go and that he _would_ keep her safe.

"Go grab another comforter, Seth." The bitterly cold air would not bother he and his brothers, but Bella would need the heat. "Embry, switch on the flood lights out back. We have some things to show Bella," he glanced down at her from his still significant height, "and to tell her."

"Not about…" Seth began in that same too soft voice for a human to hear, but Jake cut him off in at a normal volume.

"Most of it." He marched himself out of the back of the house with the others following. When Embry switched on the flood lights he and his father had installed months ago to keep the Thompson kids from goofing around on their property the yard was entirely illuminated. It was as if they were in a football stadium overrun with wildlife. The yard was spacious enough for what they had to show their little mate.

His mate shivered momentarily in her cocoon as soon as the night air hit her feather-soft skin. His teeth clenched, hard, as he fought not to retreat back into the warmth of the house and bundle her up onto the bed where she wouldn't get sicker.

Seth was the last to leave the house. He handed over the thick comforter before padding down into the yard with the others. Bella had a look caught between nervousness and pure childish whimsy planted firmly on her face as he tucked the comforter around her already cozy prison and settled her down into his mother's old wooden rocking chair.

"I get to see?" The barely leashed excitement caused his heart to lurch out towards her in building devotion. There were so many traits about his little mate to love that he knew that without even being aware of it entirely he would be in love with her.

"Yes, Bella, you get to see." He held up a single, silencing finger before she could say anything on that. "But first, I need to tell you some things. Will you promise to be quiet and just listen to what I have to say? When I'm done, you can ask whatever you want. I will not lie to you."

She did not speak. Instead she pursed her lips closed and gave him a firm nod.

"Good girl." He smiled softly, resisting the urge to tweak her slightly upturned nose. "First off, I want you to understand something. The others were angry with me earlier today and then again at Sam just a little while ago because we touched you." She looked ready to say something, but with one stern look she stoutly shut her mouth and nodded for him to continue.

"Me, Embry, and Quil have known about you since you were very little. The others have heard about you, usually in great detail, from either your father, Billy, or us. Unfortunately none of us really looked at you and who you were as a person. I can't tell you exactly how, but all of us knew this afternoon that we wanted you in our lives. Permanently."

Bella's eyes widened into saucers and Jacob feared that she might have launched into the canopy of the porch had he not wrapped her so tightly that she could not run away from them or bound off into the night.

"What?" She screeched, the sound grating on his ears. "All seven…are you…you can't be…" Her eyes darted between them all before settling onto his with something akin to melancholy gleaming in their haunting depths. "What?" She whispered.

"We thought the exact same things you were just thinking. I assure you. And before you ask, no, we can't read your mind." She frowned at him, but said nothing. "We never expected to have the same woman for…to be attracted to the same woman. We all want you, Bella. Some of us may not know you well and some of us may have been lax in keeping our connections over the years, but we want you, honey. Make no mistake about that."

"We can't do that." She rushed out in horror. "It'd be wrong. I don't know…I couldn't do that to any of you!"

"What do you mean, darlin'?" Embry asked from where he stood beside the combination steps and ramp leading up to the porch.

"Have you even considered what people would think of you all?" She asked as if that very thought should have been the biggest proverbial elephant in the room. "Relationships like that aren't normal, guys. You'd be ostracized! Nobody would accept something like that and you guys could be run right out of La Push and farther."

"We aren't worried for us, honey." Jacob told her softly, his right hand coming to cup her cold cheek. "We only care what _you_ think of us. Everyone else can go to Hell for all we care. We want _you_, not them."

"It's been _years_, Jake." She scolded him, struggling in her cocoon. He allowed her to do it for now. She wouldn't be able to get out and when she tuckered herself out he'd just carry her back into the house to bed. "Before today I didn't even know Paul or Jared and I knew Seth and Sam only by name and word of mouth. I've changed. You've changed. This is just…"

"We're not saying that we are in love with you, honey," he inserted quietly, disliking saying such a thing aloud to her. "And you don't love us. All we're saying is that we all want you and are not willing to let you go without seeing where this might take us."

He didn't dare voice out loud that she would _never_ leave them. They'd give her time, at least as much as they could without killing each other, but she would never have the option of actually walking entirely away from them. Even if Jacob had to act like a best friend to her and as that alone for the rest of eternity, no matter how much he wanted something so much more physical with her, he would never let her walk out of his life. The others would be of the same minds.

"You want us all, too." He ticked the side of his nose with wink. "We can smell it." Her answering blush was endearing as it was sexy.

"I – I'm attracted to you all, yes." She admitted shyly, trying not to look at him directly. "But this wouldn't work. It _can't_. You said 'permanently'. I know you did. That means sex, babies, everything. Something like that just doesn't work. And good Heavens, what would my father think?"

"Would it matter?" Paul shot back, his eyes lighting as his wolf pranced to the surface with the discussion of their mate's future…and babies. "You love your father, yes, but would you let him stand in the way of what you truly want? Of what you know would make you the happiest?"

"But I _don't_ know that this would make me happy." She insisted, her eyes clamping shut. She was trying to shut them out. "I can handle the supernatural. I can handle weird. But this, this is too much. There's no way that you all could actually want me and there's no way that this could work out."

"Why wouldn't we want you, honey?" Instead of letting her makeup excuses, he rambled off the list of everything incredible he saw in her since day one all those years ago as children. "You're headstrong, stubborn, courageous, as smart as a whip, attractive with wide hips, long legs, curling locks, and breathtaking sepia eyes. Your sweetness is only beaten by your drive to succeed. You place everyone before yourself and are unflinchingly accepting of anyone and anything different than you. You are polite, well-spoken, and have possibly the most adorable disposition I have ever seen in a woman in my entire life. The list goes on and on, Bella. Any man would be a fool not to see how wonderful you truly are."

And _he_ had been a fool for so many years. He'd just let her go when he was younger and when she'd returned he hadn't snatched her away from that bloodsucker when he'd had the chance. He may not have phased then, but he had still been attracted to her and knew how amazing she was. If he'd only shoved past his own idiocies he might have had her from the start of all this mess.

"We can give you time, honey." He promised with total sincerity, but when his fingers pinched her chin to force her to look at him he spoke with dead-seriousness. "We will give you time, but we aren't going to let you just walk away from us just because you're scared. And do not say that you are not afraid because you are. This is all unknown to any of us, but we can look after each other. We just want to try, Bella. Will you let us do that?"

She was quiet for so long that were her eyes not constantly shifting between his that he would have thought she'd passed out on him. Finally, after a tense few moments, she sighed. Her breath blew into his face and sent a jolt of desire straight to his cock. He'd never get used to her scent. It would forever make him hard and wanting.

"I – I'll _try_ this, between all of us, but we have to go at my pace. I can't let myself…" _Fall in love?_ He supplied internally, but did not dare speak it. "I can't push myself in this. If this is going to work, and that's a _big_ if, it's going to take time and patience."

"That's all we're asking, Bella." He kissed her very briefly on the lips before standing up entirely. She stared up at him through her long, dark lashed. "We'll talk more in the morning after you've had a full night's rest. For now, let's show you what you're really dealing with."

_Ah! There's that sparkle in her eyes again._

Making his way towards the others he began to peel off the cut-offs. None of them wore underwear; it was less to carry this way. At a distance Bella wouldn't be able to see their dangling cocks even with the flood lights and Jacob had no fear of the neighbors noticing them. The Black house was far enough away from everyone else that they'd normally get a phone call if someone was going to be coming over and even if they did not call they would sniff out any unwanted guests.

Jacob breathed in deeply and grasped onto his wolf with both hands. While the first change took the total breaking of control in which the wolf could escape, the subsequent phases were quite easy to initiate. The wolf was never buried too deeply away from their normal, conscious selves, so all they really had to do was 'let go' of their inhibitions and they would shift.

He heard his little mate's heart rate pick up as his gaze sharpened even further. He felt his bones crack and break, his muscles tearing and realigning, and then complete calm as he was left standing on four legs with his massive head staring up towards his mate. His claws flexed into the moist ground beneath him. It churned and cracked under the abuse, but it felt good. It always felt good to let his wolf out and be who and what he truly was.

His pack mates' awareness's flowed into him like a river. It was hard to discern one of them from the other when they were like this. Their emotions flowed as one. He could feel and see Sam's remembrance of fondling Bella. He could feel the others' anger towards the Beta for getting Bella first, but also slight disgust for his infringement upon the pack's hierarchy. Sam felt only minor guilt for having done what he'd done…he kept telling himself that it was what Bella wanted so that was why he'd let himself lose control. Jacob knew his anger was not missed by his Beta when the other male took a tentative step back from him with his neck itching to bare itself to him.

"Please," the soft plea drew his full attention back to Bella's awe-struck form, "come closer. I want to see you better."

As one they all advanced upon her.

_She isn't afraid. She sees us and she genuinely shows no fear._ Quil projected to him with reverence.

_She is our mate_, Paul surmised with pride. _Deep down she knows that we would never hurt her._

Bella struggled in her cocoon, probably to get her arms free so that she could reach out and pet them. Jake chuckled inwardly at the thought and knew the others took as much pleasure from the idea as it drifted between them. Only she would think of them as puppies and attempt to scratch behind their ears or their stomachs. Anyone else and their sheer size would either send them into a faint or running for safety.

Finally Bella growled in an adorable way, one that reminded him of a kitten trying to get the upper-hand on a toy mouse and failing, and sagged into the rocker. It swayed under her gently.

"You did this on purpose." She complained, jerking her chin downwards to indicate the cozy prison she found herself in. Had he had his human mouth he would have explained to her that it was for her own health that he did such a thing, which was partially true. He also wanted to make sure that she had no way to take off like a frightened deer.

Instead he just nodded once and allowed his tongue to loll out of his mouth in his wolfy version of a smile. The look did its job in making her beam gloriously back at him.

"You're very pretty. Big, but pretty."

Seth, Embry, and Jared huffed indignantly at word. Jake was amused. While he would have preferred something more robust and manly to describe them he couldn't bring himself to care just so long as she didn't run from them.

It was only the sight of her shivering even under the layers of blankets that urged him to shift back into human form as soon as he did. He hadn't wanted her out this night for a reason, but since the rain had stopped temporarily in the past half an hour and Sam had made them all force their hands he had had to bring her outside. She had to know what she was getting into by accepting their advances.

The shift back was as painful as the one into his wolfen form, but it was just as temporary. As soon as he was standing on two human legs he tugged his cut-offs back up over his hips and sauntered up to his mate.

"All right," he began jovially, "it's time for someone to get back inside and go to bed."

"You're making me feel like a child, again." She warned him as he easily hefted her slight weight into his arms.

"I think I like babying you." He returned with a smirk.

"Too bad I don't, otherwise this would all work out great." He did laugh at her wit then. He was only distantly aware of the others shifting back behind him and entering the house.

Jacob carried her into his bedroom and placed her gingerly down onto the bed. Meticulously he undid her cushy binding so that if she grew sick in the night she would still be able to make a move for the bathroom.

"Jake?" Her tentative voice perked his ears and brought his full attention from fussing with the blankets to looking straight into her eyes. Guilt rolled through them mercilessly.

"What is it, honey?" He asked back, smoothing back a lock of her hair.

"You know that it won't work, right?" Her hands played nervously with the comforter on top of the heap she was piled under. "For me to be with all seven of you…it won't work. There is a physical attraction between us all, but that in itself is just another nail in the coffin. You guys are going to get jealous of each other. You admitted to getting jealous before. I can't be the reason that you all hate each other and fight. I _can't_ do it, Jake."

"Bella," he sighed, coming to sit directly beside her on the bed. The bed creaked under his weight, but thankfully did not collapse. He really needed to get a bigger, sturdier bed. "I won't promise that there won't be fights. There will be, but I will promise you that we're never going to hurt each other irreparably. We are like brothers and we will fight over many things, but I swear to you that those fights will remain between us. You won't have to worry for us."

He took one of her busy hands and made her lay it upon his chest over his heart. A bolt of electricity zinged through him at the contact, but he forced the arousal down as much as he possibly could in his mate's presence. "This is a lot for you to take in, Bella, I know. Just yesterday you lost your _boyfriend_," it was a struggle to not say bloodsucker, "and today you find out that not only are we shapeshifters but that we are all certain that you are the woman for each of us. We don't expect you to just fall into our arms and scream 'take me'. We don't even expect you to understand how we know that you're the one for us, but I do hope that you can trust us for now. We won't change our minds, honey. You're it. You're who we want. Sometime soon you'll understand the extent to which we care for you.

"For now, though, you are tired and need to sleep." He plucked her trembling hand from his chest and placed a soft kiss to the backs of her fingers. "Just let us take care of you and don't fret over spending time alone with each of us. Whatever problems we have we'll work out between us."

Jake didn't allow her time to voice any more of her concerns in lieu of exhaustion. He bent forward, kissed her forehead, and then finished tucking her in. He could all but feel her desire to argue with him, but he also knew that she was too tired to do so now. She'd try when she was feeling better, but not now.

"Sleep well, Bella. We'll see you in the morning."

"Jake?"

He smiled from the doorway and turned his head back to look at his little mate. A dainty flush colored her cheeks.

"Thank you. For everything." She exhaled gratefully. Warmth bloomed in his chest for her

"You're welcome, little one."

As soon as he shut the door behind him the gentle smile on his face washed away to be replaced by the stern control of a leader. He'd played nice while Bella was awake, but it was time to put his Beta in his place. As Prime he had first rights to their mate and he was going to make sure that each of his pack understood that.

And he was going to make sure that Sam regretted not controlling himself better.

He stomped down the short hallway into the main living room where the other males waited. They all stared straight at him as he entered, all but Sam nodding their heads in respect to their Prime. They could sense the tension in the air, the barely controlled anger rolling in him. All of them would know what was about to happen.

"Quil, Embry, keep watch over the house and our mate. Jared, Paul, Seth, you three will come with Sam and I." He sent a significant look towards his Beta. "We've got a challenge to meet out. There will be no interference."

Jacob took the lead out of the house. By giving Sam his back he was stating that he did not find the other male a threat showing that he was the leader. Sam's low-throated growl sounded behind him, but the other wolf followed nonetheless.

Jacob led them all a mile into the forest where there would be no chance of anyone catching them. He stripped seamlessly, leaving his cut-offs beside a massive cedar to be donned later. The others joined their bottoms to the mix. Nudity was not an overly big problem with them any longer. They needed to strip to keep their clothes from tearing and the wolves in them saw no need to feel shy or shamed around each other wearing nothing but their fur or naked skin.

His eyes raked over the only slightly smaller Beta. He'd fought Sam before, but he hadn't made him submit fully. He'd fought beside him since his phase while they trained. He knew many of the other wolf's strengths and weaknesses. He would need to show his power now, make his Beta submit entirely. His leadership of the pack depended upon it as well as his claim over Bella. Sam would be unsteady with the thought of Bella and while he wasn't exactly coolheaded when it came to his mate, either, he knew that he'd be able to get the advantage.

All that mattered now was that the lesson of who was now leading their pack got through to him.

Jake passed a look to the other three and cracked his knuckles.

"You may challenge the victor of this battle if you so wish." He informed them diplomatically. All three of them looked sufficiently disturbed.

"Hell no!" Seth shouted, waving his hands in front of him quickly. "Don't look at me, I wouldn't want to lead this pack even if I was up to getting my ass handed to me. Which I'm not."

"I'm just a referee, nothing more." Jared assured him, his neck bared to his sights.

"Keep the headaches to yourself, Alpha," Paul brushed his hand in front of him dismissively. "I have my own worries; I don't need to add pack problems onto them."

Satisfied, Jacob nodded firmly before allowing the wolf out once more. The others followed him easily, the three others backing away to form a wide triangle around the two combatants. They would not interfere in any way in this challenge for dominance. They might fight with each other later, but forever more Jacob and Sam would be the Alpha and Beta, respectfully, in all things. He as the top-dog, and Sam as the runner-up.

And he would make sure it stayed that way.

His human mind slowly closed down so that only the wolf was left. His connection with his pack mates faded until all that was left was the feeling. They'd all learned this technique early-on. When the human was no longer in control, when he became dormant, communication and reading each other's minds was no longer an available option. They were simply massive wolves.

It was the only way that any of them could fight without ending in a stalemate.

Jacob snarled his challenge, bristling, and curled his lips back from his jagged teeth. Sam issued his own counter-challenge, the sound echoing through the woods. They circled one another looking for an opening to attack.

Jake found his opening first. Sam had assumed an offensive stance and was more focused on watching him than paying attention to his surroundings. He feinted a charge, which Sam sidestepped to avoid. As soon as he stumbled, Jacob made his true leap at him.

They rolled, tangled, twisted around and around, their jaws cracking like thunder in the night air as they clawed and bit at one another. Unfortunately Jacob could not find purchase on the other wolf's black as pitch neck. After a few minutes more of this they began circling again. Sam was more cautious this time around, but this wariness worked against him as his previous inattention had. He allowed his senses to reign supreme so that he could keep his eyes locked upon his combatant's. Sam, however, was so intent on him that when he finally realized that his surroundings could play just as an important part as any missteps Jacob might make he looked completely away.

Jacob charged.

This time he managed to catch Sam's throat, but his Beta moved swiftly. Quicker than he had anticipated, apparently, because when Sam tugged his head back he was able to pull his neck free with only minimal scraping. His blood coated Jacob's tongue and made him ache for more. The wolf was a base, animalistic thing inside of him, and it wanted more violence. More blood.

In this one way he knew that shapeshifters and vampires were not so different.

They craved the fight and blood.

When Sam recovered he made a move for his own throat, but Jake was faster and kept the other wolf's teeth from his jugular. It was a near-miss, though.

For at least a half an hour they fought, charging at each other and doing as much damage as possible before breaking apart. Sam managed a bite to his haunches once, but Jacob had landed many more hits. The other male bled freely, his chest heaving and bleeding out where he'd swiped him with his razor-sharp claws. Jacob knew that he was growing tired himself, but the other wolf was on his last legs. He could feel it in his own mind and see it in his slowing reflexes.

Then Sam made his biggest mistake. He let his anger of imminent defeat get the better of him. Sam charged for him and bore his muzzle open completely. Jacob knew what was coming and knew that the move was not bad considering that he was wearing out of energy, but no matter how vicious the attack the other wolf was leaving himself open. So when Sam sunk his teeth into his shoulder Jake ignored the pain, whipped his head around and under Sam's head, and clamped down firmly onto Sam's jugular.

Blood pooled into his mouth as he bore down and forced the other male to release his grip on his shoulder. He did not let up on his grip even then. He kept biting down until the other male was forced to his stomach on the ground. He kept him there by force until he felt the fight leave him. The moment he felt his Beta's acceptance of defeat he eased the chokehold he had on his neck. It gave Sam just enough room to breathe, but still know that if he attempted to move that his throat would be ripped out.

Jacob allowed the human back out of the recesses of his mind to the forefront so that he could push into his Beta's head. The other man was panting for air, but unwilling to yield even in his compromised position. Jacob snarled a warning into the other male's throat, whipped his body around, and used one rear leg to kick the other male onto his back. From there he braced each of his russet colored paws on either side of the black wolf and gripped a little more firmly onto his jugular.

Sam warred within himself for several long moments before he finally allowed his fury to subside and his pride to back down. The Beta yielded with a whimper, pulling his neck back as far as he could while still being held between Jacob's jaws.

He continued to hold him prone for several minutes to allow the defeat to sink in, to make him understand his submission, before he released him. Sam attempted to tip his head back down, but Jake snapped his jaws threateningly and growled. The Beta quickly aborted the attempt at comfort.

Jake stared down at his Beta for a short time more, wallowing in his victory, before leaping away from the other male. His body remained semi-rigid even as he shifted back into his human form.

Sam rose to his paws shakily, but kept his head bowed in deference.

"I pray for your sake that you will not challenge me again, Beta." Jacob snarled before hauling on his pants.

He watched idly as the others shifted back. Sam was covered in open wounds. The one on his chest and in his neck were bad enough that they would take more than several hours to heal, but he would recover fully. Jacob glanced down at his hip and frowned. Blood had seeped through into his pants.

"I guess I should shower." His eyes flicked to Sam. "Make sure you get cleaned up. It would disturb Bella to see you so injured."

Jacob shook off any residual tension in his shoulders before making his way back to the house. He'd get himself cleaned up, discuss with the others what the sleeping arrangements were going to be, and then allow himself to collapse until he needed to go on patrol.

With everything happening they'd missed most of their patrols for the day.

Mate or not, though, they had a tribe to protect. By the time his patrol time came around he'd be running a perimeter around La Push and entrusting his pack mates to see to her comfort.

"Why can't life be less complicated?" He asked into the wind, knowing that he would get no answer.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy, y'all. How'd you like this chapter? No sex-scenes, I know, but not everything I write is going to be smut. There is a story beyond that no matter how much some of my readers wished that this was just a straight-out sex story. I needed to make sure that we got most of Sam's Alpha issues out of the way and this was the only way to do it. He'll still fight with not being the Prime, but in time he'll grow to get used to the fact that he's no longer leading the pack.

I also can't believe how popular this story is. I'm psyched! I was expecting some following, but not this! In just a few weeks I've had more hits and favorites on this story than I have on any of my others individually for months and months. I know it's partly due to Twilight being so popular, but I'm just floored. And extremely elated that so many people seem to like this story.

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think or if you have any criticism. Just keep the language clean and avoid insulting my readers. It will not be taken well if you do.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	7. Chapter 7: All in the Genes

**Chapter Seven: All in the Genes**

Bella groaned and rolled over onto her side. Her face was buried into the feather-soft pillow. Sometime during the night she had regained the ability to breathe through one nostril and she'd been inhaling his scent ever since.

Jacob smelled the same as he always had. Sandalwood and male musk, but there was another hint of chocolaty-mint as well. She'd gladly make a perfume or cologne bottle with his unique scent and spray it over her shirts if she could. She couldn't explain her attraction to the scent beyond the fact that it was arousing. In hindsight she knew that she'd never get anything done in the day if she was always panting after Jacob's delicious scent.

After a few more minutes of self-indulgence Bella sighed on a ragged cough and eased her body up into a sitting position. Only a faint glow came in from the window so she suspected that it was still early morning.

The blankets she had been tucked under the night before fell to her hips as she gazed around the room.

Jake's room was so small. There was only the bed, a small night-side stand, and then the two doors she knew led to either the closet or the hallway. The walls were painted a warm sand color and a few pictures littered the walls. One of them was an image of her, Jake, Quil, and Embry as very young children playing on a large pile of driftwood down at the beach. She couldn't really remember back to that time since she had only been a toddler compared to them, but she _did_ know deep down that whenever she was with them she was smiling and happy.

Staring at that picture on the farthest wall she almost didn't notice the light snoring echoing in the room. Her brows came down together as she shifted forward on the bed to look over the edge. A giggle made its way up her throat as soon as she caught sight of the beings lying on the floor around the bed.

Embry was lying the closest to her on the floor beside the night-stand, his mouth wide open and puffing air in and out of his barreled chest. Quil's head was settled next to Embry's left shin with the right foot resting atop his forehead. Paul and Jared were dead asleep on either side of the doorway with their heads knocked back and their spines up straight in a sitting position. Glancing out the doorway she could see Seth and Sam sprawled out onto the ground haphazardly. She only hoped that Billy wouldn't need to use the bathroom because the seven wolves were aptly creating a barricade to the bedroom and bathroom with their prone bodies. Jacob was nowhere to be seen, but she figured that he was either elsewhere in the house or attending to matters outside of caring for her such as the shop of wolf-business.

_Now how am I going to get out of here?_ She wondered to herself.

Shrugging noncommittally she pushed the blankets down off of her body at the foot of the bed. Even through the flannel pajamas she was wearing she could feel the coolness of the air. A thin layer of goosebumps prickled at her flesh.

Taking one last peak at the men surrounding her Bella eased her sock-covered feet to the hard wood floors between Embry's left hand and Quil's shoulder. She settled herself onto her feet slowly and carefully, determined not to get vertigo. Quil mumbled in his sleep as the floorboards creaked underneath her slight weight, but remained firmly in dreamland. She found herself grinning at the cuteness of it.

She was pleasantly surprised that her 'Twister' skills were still worth their snuff by the time she'd made it into the living room. She hadn't once disturbed any of the sleeping bodies, although Seth had unconsciously reached out to stroke her calf by the time she'd reached him. She'd stiffened, but when the man had just slipped right back into a blissful slumber she'd exhaled softly and trudged on.

It wasn't overly surprising to find Billy in the kitchen making a sandwich.

"Morning." She croaked, her voice cracking and breaking more than it had yesterday. She grimaced. She should have relaxed her throat yesterday, not insisting on using it to discuss her issues and life-story with a pack of shapeshifting wolves.

Billy maneuvered his seat around to peer up at her and smiled a little sadly.

"Good morning, Bella. You don't sound much better. You should probably still be in bed." She didn't miss him sneaking glances behind her. She could almost see into his mind. He was most likely wondering how she got around the blockade or half-naked bodies.

"Had to get up." She rasped, her throat screaming in protest. Her hand rubbed at the column of her neck to try and ease the discomfort.

"Let me get you a glass of water. You just sit down." She didn't miss the hint of command in his voice. In that moment she could see the resemblance between Jacob and Billy Black beyond the physical appearance. It seemed strength and leadership was an inherited trait.

Bella claimed one of the four seats at the tiny dining room table in the kitchen. She watched idly as Billy produced a mug from one of the lowest shelves of the upper cabinets and got her a cup of tap-water from the sink. Before handing it to her he made a pit-stop at the split-side fridge and plunked two chunks of ice into the mug.

"There you go." She smiled graciously as soon as the drink was in her hands. The coldness of the water caused her to shiver, but the blessed numbness that followed in its wake was well worth it.

When she had finished enough of the drink she set the mug in front of her, watching the condensation build up on the smooth ceramic. The mug was old. She could remember it from when she was little and would visit Jake, Embry, and Quil all those years ago. It was the one she tended to use the most because unlike the others, which had only brown, orange, and red autumn leaves painted into the sides, this one had a uniquely pinkish leaf. She thought that it was a flub in the coloring since leaves never turned a pale pink in autumn, but the color still drew her attention anyway.

She couldn't help but think that Billy remembered her favoring the mug.

"Bella?" Her attention flitted to his face. "I'd like to talk with you, but with your throat being as rough as it is how about we settle with 'yes' and 'no' questions and remarks that you can nod or shake your head to. Sound fair?"

She nodded.

"Good!" His pulled his own sandwich over to the table and sat across from her. His smile was soft and fatherly. In the time she'd spent back in Forks she'd come to re-love her father and she had little doubt that this man, who had been like a second father to her whenever she was on the Reservation as a little girl, would quickly become as important to her now as he had back then.

"First off, I just want to know how you're bearing up to the whole shapeshifter, thing?" At her raised eyebrow he chuckled. "Come now, Bella, do you really think that as a tribal leader that I would not be aware that my own son was part wolf? That's just nonsense. You are taking it rather well, yes?"

Bella nodded slowly.

"That's good. Jacob told me this morning that he had informed you of their…attachment to you?" Billy looked distinctly uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure if it was the nature of the conversation itself, the fact that his son and several other men were looking for a relationship with her, or that he was just uncomfortable speaking of 'intimacies' as a whole to her when she was an involved party that was making him so jittery.

Once again her head bobbed up and down slowly.

"Are you truly comfortable with that? I do not mean to sound disrespectful, but you are a young woman, Bella. You just recently turned eighteen. Most women in their thirties or forties would not be contented with this proposal. As your father's best friend and a man that genuinely thinks of you as the little girl that hugged and consoled me with bright-pink pigtails in her hair when my wife passed, are you okay with this?"

Bella's eyes widened at the mention of Sarah Black. The woman had died on the day that Billy had lost most of the motor functions in his legs. None of them had ever condoned drinking and driving, but it was that day that they all became advocates of any and all movements or laws that kept individuals like that off the road. The paramedics had said that when the drunk driver had hit the passenger side of the car, Sarah's side, that the woman had died instantly. They had to force themselves to believe that she had passed on instantly and not suffered.

Billy, however, had suffered a great deal. Bella had been forced to stay home for a short time with Renee while the family mourned in peace, but as soon as she was permitted to, she'd ordered her father to take her to the Black house. She had only been four, Jacob at six. The moment they'd arrived at the house Bella had thrown herself at Jacob, dragged him over to his father and twin sisters Rebecca and Rachel, and then forced them all into a great big group hug. Billy had broken in tears immediately.

Bella would never forget staying at the Black home for a week straight, helping in her childish way to make Billy feel better. She'd ended up getting Jacob and the twins to help her make a collage of Sarah's life. The twins had done a lot of the actual work, being ten years old at the time, but she and Jacob had provided the necessary lightness and fun to the collage to keep it from being too morbid and depressing.

From what she understood, Billy kept the collage framed above his bed to this very day.

Billy and Sarah had been madly in love. Even being so young she had seen it. They were the classic Prince and Princess couple that she always read about. Her own parents had only ever argued with each other for about as far back as she could remember. Sarah and Billy had always been in contact with one-another…holding hands, kissing, hugging, beaming at each other like they had a secret that rivaled the power of the Sun. She'd dreamed of one day finding a love like that for herself. She'd been determined to find her own Prince Charming even if it killed her.

Bella wasn't sure if she could imagine Sarah and Billy's relationship embodied in the pack. She had had a bit of a juvenile crush on any of the three boys growing up, but that had been along with a healthy dose of cooties. Since meeting them again she couldn't argue that she found them attractive as all get out, but could she really believe that there could be something more between them?

Jacob was a charismatic, natural born leader. His bright-eyed look on most of the world only served to endear her more to him. He was strong, physically attractive, and street-smart. Honestly, he had all of the qualities in him that any woman would find appealing in a man.

Then there was Embry, the shier, yet undeniably tempting fiend. While he didn't converse much outside of his special group of friends he was a loyal, trustworthy person. His silent, soft presence made her relax unconsciously. While he had a dominant streak as Jake did it was not as 'in-your-face'. You'd find yourself coerced into doing whatever he wanted and never know it. He was an avid storyteller and writer. She knew that the man had learned a total of seven different languages before graduating high-school.

Finally she thought of Quil and his joking personality. He always seemed to want to be the center of attention and was cracking jokes. He had a photographic memory of sorts when it came to movies or anything he happened to listen to…he could have an entire movie memorized, word for word, after the first viewing. He'd always been able to make her laugh and was very touchy-feely, but was also quite sensitive. While she was away she knew that without a doubt she could come to him with her 'girl' problems in their letters and he would give her heart-felt, serious advice.

She knew very little of the others, but did feel a kind of kinship with them all. She'd learned a little about Sam last night while she was eating, but it wasn't really enough to call them anything but acquaintances. She was physically attracted to them, but what did she know of them emotionally? Of their pasts? Their aspirations? What their deepest desires were? She knew nothing about them that mattered just as they knew little to nothing about her.

Bella shook her head slowly, almost sadly.

She did not know them and she could not in good conscience get into a real relationship with them unless she did. Jacob, Embry, and Quil were closer to the mark than the others, but they were all a long way off of being anything more than just friends.

To top it off she couldn't help but feel that she was doing something very wrong. She was one woman, a _young_ woman at that, with seven men practically throwing themselves at her! She didn't understand how they could even think of wanting _her_, let alone sharing! She didn't want them all to become outcasts from their own homes because of her and she couldn't help but feel slighted. If a man truly wanted her, and possibly loved her, wouldn't he want to keep her for himself? He wouldn't peddle her off to every other one of his buddies if he had any real feelings for her.

Bella's lips were pursed tightly as she stared at Billy. The man had been observing her for some time and she wondered what expressions had been playing across her face. Before she could even think to say something, _anything_, to the older man she heard two heavy feet come stomping into the kitchen.

"You should be back in bed." A deep, sleep-rasped voice growled from behind her even as a thick quilt was being tucked around her upper-half.

"Hi, Paul." She scratched out, the vibration of sound making her wince.

"Spirits, Bella!" Paul cursed, his large hands coming to sooth her throat in a gentle massage. "You sound awful."

If she could have spoken without pain she might have given him a witty remark. As it was she allowed herself to wallow in the attention being given to her swollen neck. Maybe she had the flu and not the cold? She wouldn't be surprised. She had never had the best luck when it came to fighting gravity or airborne illnesses.

"How about I get you back into bed?" He urged softly, his fingers doing their magic on her neck.

Sadly here eyes popped wide at the suggestion. Tension eased back into her shoulders as she recalled quite clearly how they all seemed to think of her as an invalid. The scowl she gave the man over her shoulder apparently did its job because Paul raised his hands up in front of him in a universal sign of surrender and peace.

"All right, calm down. It was just a suggestion." She snorted. _Yeah, right_.

Bella looked back to Billy then and gave him a sidelong grin. "I'll be fine." She assured him even if she had her doubts about whether or not something like the men were proposing would actually work.

Paul glanced between them both before shaking his head firmly. His overly large hands began to rub at her tensed shoulders. "Are you hungry, love?" Rather than allowing her to make a verbal response her stomach growled aggressively. "Just sit back and relax. I'll make you something. Is your stomach feeling better?"

His nose twitched as he took in what she presumed to be her scent. She nodded her head that 'yes' she was feeling better, which his satisfied smirk seemed to confirm. Again she wondered what it'd be like to have senses that strong. Admittedly she was just tickled pink that she could even inhale through her one nostril.

"Let's start with some scrambled eggs and dry toast."

Bella found herself transfixed by Paul's backside as he set about making breakfast. His firm ass was hugged perfectly in the cut-offs, different than the ones she had seen last night, and the muscles in his back knotted and ripped with each movement he made. His back was just as bare of hair as his chest, which had her mouth watering. She'd always had a thing for little to no hair on a man. She'd been half-tempted in school back in Phoenix to date one of the competition swimmers for that very reason. They shaved their hair off, with the exception of their heads, to make them more streamline and have less drag in the water. Too bad most of them were pompous windbags that only cared about the next swim-meet.

She tried to recall if she knew anything about Paul from any of Jake's, Embry's, or Quil's letters over the years. She scraped into the very recesses of her mind and could only come to the conclusion that no, she really didn't know this man. If the three had told her anything about him it was obscure and she hadn't cared enough to remember it.

That bothered her.

How could this man and several of the others proclaim to desiring her when they knew little to nothing of _her_. Sure they knew what the others might have told them, but they hadn't gotten to know her personally. Lust she could understand since she felt it for them no matter how disturbing that thought was, but to say that they wanted her beyond that?

_Men are stupid_. She surmised inwardly, shaking her head. _They're thinking with their other heads and that's it. They'll eventually realize this and just let me go. A relationship can't be built on lust alone. They couldn't want me for anything but my looks_.

She honestly didn't really see what they wanted in her body, anyway.

She'd never had a high esteem of her body even though she knew that the male of her species found her attractive. Pale skin, slight frame, not overly tall, dulled hair, and average brown eyes. She didn't think that any guy could picture her in their minds without doing a serious touch-up in order to make her more appealing.

The guys, though, were sex on a stick. They were a woman's wet-dream incarnated. Tall, muscular, tanned, and utterly dominant. Bella had little doubt that no matter what these men would never have a shortage of women at their beck and call. They could have someone so much prettier than she was. They could have pretty much any woman their heats desired so she had no clue why on Earth they would be interested in plain-'ole her.

A bell seemed to chime in her mind with that thought and she furrowed her brows, bearing her eyes into Paul's wide back.

_Maybe it's a wolf thing?_

Multiple-partner romances were rare, generally taboo in everyday society. She knew from past experiences that men at large did not share well. Most men would rather rip each other's dicks off as opposed to sharing a woman between them. Possessive, jealous, pig-headed animals.

Bella's mind turned as she tried to remember the documentary on wolves she'd had to watch in Middle School so many years ago. She was fairly certain that within a wolf pack there were three predominant rankings…the alpha male and female, the beta, and the omega. The other wolves within a pack would fall between the alpha position and the omega. From what she recalled, only the alpha male and female mated and the only way another of the wolves could have the alpha female was if he bested the alpha and proved his dominance.

_Okay, so maybe it's a shapeshifter thing, then_.

They all needed to have a _long_ talk. She was only confusing herself and surely the guys would at least attempt to appease her curiosity now that she knew their double-persuasion. Besides, Jake had all but promised to talk to her today and Jacob wasn't one to break his promises.

"Here you go, love." Bella startled from her thoughts when Paul set the plate of food down in front of her. She beamed widely up at the man before snatching the fork he offered her and all but inhaled the scrambled eggs. They were fluffy had a very small hint of cracked pepper in them. Her stomach gurgled once in appreciation before settling down again.

"Slow down, Bella." Paul chuckled, easily engulfing the hand holding the fork and steadying it. "You'll make yourself sick again eating that fast. If you want more, there are plenty of eggs left in the fridge waiting for you."

"How 'bout some for us while you're at it, Paul?" Jared's sleep ragged voice drew her attention to the doorway of the kitchen to find several of the others either standing under the frame or back in the living room.

"Do I look like Emril to you?" Paul growled, his arms crossing over his barreled chest.

"No, which is why I implied that I wanted eggs and not homemade lasagna. Chop-chop, Romeo." Jared scratched himself unattractively, his fingers making quick work behind his back and below his hips. She made a disgusted face. She hoped that he was going to wash his hands before he touched anything.

"Don't look so grossed out, Darlin'." Embry chuckled, pushing Jared out of his way. "We may be wolves, but we're also males and males tend to scratch themselves. It's just a fact of life."

"Eww." She grated, her lips still turned down.

Embry stopped abruptly from heading her way at the sound of her voice and furrowed his brows. Almost as soon as he'd stopped he began moving again so that he could stand behind her chair and set a massive palm over her forehead. The laughter that bubbled out of her hurt her chest badly, but she couldn't help herself. Here he was, a shapeshifting wolf with a dubiously high temperature and a hand the size of a catcher's mitt, trying to tell if _she_ had a fever. It took her entire hand to cover her own forehead while just his palm encompassed it entirely.

"You don't have a fever." He muttered, both of his hands coming to rest at her collar bone. His thumbs rubbed at the column of her neck making her want to hum in approval if only her throat was up to it.

"I think she just overused her throat yesterday." Billy inserted while eyeing the coffee she hadn't even seen him preparing. "Before you all woke up we had decided to limit most our conversations to yes or no responses so that she could just nod or shake her head to save her the pain."

Billy cocked his brow in a sort of rude way to the man standing behind her and Bella noted the sudden tension in the hands circling neck. A low-level growl pitched the older man's way had her own spine straightening in defense. Her right hand, which had long since dropped the fork, shot up to grip half of Embry's thick wrist.

"Billy's right." She choked on the words, sending her chest into small coughing convulsions. By the time she'd regained enough life-sustaining air there was another glass of ice water in front of her. Paul was again beside her, his eyes portraying worry. "S'just raw from talking."

"Then we'll be sure to avoid straining your throat too much." Embry spoke assuredly, the tension leaking slowly out of his hands. She wondered what triggered him to get so antsy with Billy, but wouldn't ask. Her voice _was_ sore and she would really rather avoid any fights if she could help it.

"Go back to eating, little one." Paul turned back to the stove with a negligent wave over his shoulder. "There's plenty more if you want it."

"Enough yammering!" Seth barked from the living room. "It's your turn to make breakfast, Paul, and we're starving!"

"Bite me!" Paul snarled back, a heavy smirk on his devilishly handsome face.

"But I hate picking your fur out of my teeth."

It took a lot of self control for Bella to hold in the chuckles that threatened to surface at that. Before Embry disappeared from behind her he ruffled her already bed-bedraggled hair with a meaty hand. She managed a backwards swat at his ass before he'd completely left her range of fire.

"Ooh, curious, Bella?" He challenged her with a wide grin. "Want me to come closer so you can get a better feel of these bad boys?" When she only glared at him Embry shrugged and started for the doorway once more.

Pursing her lips, Bella snatched up a piece of buttered toast on her plate and chucked it like a boomerang for the back of the retreating man's head. The satisfaction of both seeing and hearing the toast crunch against his carefully slickened hair was indescribable. Embry stiffened. He slowly pivoted his head around to look at her out of the corner of his eye, but she was already turned fully around in her seat and eating her eggs like the innocent that she was.

"Hey, Quil?"

"Yes, Embry?"

"What was that game we used to play years ago?" The fork stopped abruptly in its path to her awaiting mouth. "You know, the one where we substituted a piglet with a little girl?"

"Yeah, I remember the game…'Catch the Squealer'."

Bella didn't care if the crash from the adrenalin that suddenly coursed through her systems was going to suck royally. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from Hekyll and Jekyll as she could. Immediately.

The chair banged noisily to the floor behind her as her bare feet pealed across the old wood floors of the kitchen for the back door…her only chance of freedom since the doorway to the living room was blocked by the two she was determined to get away from. She just barely managed to get her hands wrapped around the doorknob before a thick arm banded itself around her waist just below her bust.

"No!" She shouted in a cracking squeal.

Her might, even adrenalin induced, was no match for his. In two tugs she found herself hauled up by her chest and hips to Embry's chest and pinned there. Her feet hung at least a foot off the ground. Her eyes bulged as she watched Quil advance on her in horror. Her hands clawed at Embry's too massive arms and her feet kicked forward and outward in the vain hope of knocking the other man clear away from her.

She was screaming for mercy in seconds.

Quil slammed into her enough from the front to make her legs open around his thick waist and not be able to close or find purchase on any surface and reach his hands down to relentlessly tickle her sides. Tears streamed from her eyes as she continued in her battle to get away, laughter bubbling out uncontrollably. Despite the rawness in her throat, and even if she would never admit it out loud, it felt good to laugh like this with them.

What seemed like hours later she felt Quil being torn away from her. Through the tears in her eyes she could see Sam smiling kindly down at her. His own hands touched down onto her tender sides, but did not tease them as Quil's had. Embry set her down onto her wobbly legs and she found herself thankful for Sam's grip on her. She would have fallen otherwise.

"Feel better, Babygirl?" Sam asked her smoothly, laughter echoing in his voice. She guessed that the others had taken a certain amount of joy out of her own suffering.

_Jerks_.

Bella regained her breath slowly. Her hands, not the least bit surprised to find them shaking, rubbed at her eyes to dispel any remnants of her tears. When she knew that she could walk again she shoved Sam out of her way and plunked herself down into the seat that had at some point been set back up onto its four legs.

She was determined to ignore them all as she got back to eating her now slightly cold eggs.

It was no easy feat when they kept chuckling at her put-out face.

_Not jerks, then. They're all rotten little toadies and they can just kiss it for all I care._

* * *

><p>Embry couldn't have taken the smile off of his face even if he'd used a knife to cut it off. Bella Swan was just too damn cute for her own good.<p>

As he passed her on his way to the living room he reached out a hand to bring his fingers through her ultra-fine, silky soft hair, but she ducked and reached for a piece of toast. She glared at him and threatened him with her remaining piece of bread, but did not chuck it. He laughed his way all the way out into the living room.

It may have been childish, but he and Quil high-fived.

Embry set himself up against the foot of the recliner chair so that he was within immediate viewing range of the kitchen and Bella. Someone, probably Jared, had turned the TV on. It was on the Discovery Channel again. All of them had become a bit obsessed with the channel. He wasn't entirely sure if it was because they wanted to be clued in on what actually was real in their lives or if it was a stress reliever. All he knew was that he'd learned quite a bit from the show since he'd first phased.

Bella's form was stiff in the chair. She'd pulled the quilt back up over her slim shoulders once she'd reseated herself. He inhaled her scent, noting that it was slightly clearer from last afternoon when they'd imprinted on her. He could only assume that the reason behind that was that she was slowly getting better. A shudder ran through him when he thought about how absolutely delicious his mate smelled now. When she was wholly healthy again he wouldn't be able to control himself.

Despite being two years younger than he, Embry had always had a bit of a thing for Miss Isabella Swan. Even as a kid she was adorable, innocent, and the sweetest thing to come out since chocolate ice-cream. His crush hadn't extended far. He could honestly say that he'd had at least twenty crushes in the past five years, but Bella had always stuck out in his mind.

She'd changed drastically in appearance since she'd lived with her mother. She was no longer the slightly rounded, perpetually bubbly child she'd been years before. She'd filled out magnificently over the years. Long legs, firm, round butt, and cascading dark hair. He loved long hair on women. It made them look more feminine and beautiful to him and Bella had probably the smoothest, shiniest hair he'd ever seen. He could easily see himself combing her hair out every night or every morning after she'd taken a shower. It would be a distinct pleasure for him.

When he'd seen her again after returning to Forks down at First Beach with her school friends he'd been floored. He cursed Jake inwardly for approaching her first. He would have met with her face-to-face that same day, but he didn't want to overwhelm her and by the time Jake had finished talking with her she'd had to leave with her friends.

It was after seeing her again that he, Quil, and Jake had opened communications back up with her. Her e-mail address had not changed since she was a teenager and they now knew her new mailing address.

Discovering that she was his mate, even if he had to share her with the rest of the pack, was actually a relief. While he didn't exactly love Bella, he did have feelings for her. He knew that given enough time he would be brought to his knees before his mate with his love for her, but that time was not now. For now they had lust and friendship.

It'll be enough for now.

"Where's Jake?" Bella's scratching voice reached them easily from the kitchen.

"He's on patrol." He assured her softly, deeply sorry that her voice sounded pained. He knew that he and Quil should not have made her laugh and screech as much as they did, but it had been unavoidable. He had a strong feeling that she needed the reprieve as much as they did.

Besides, he liked to think that the laughter might help her out as much as gargling salt water might except with less of an aftertaste.

She gave him a cocked brow, so he continued. "Patrolling is what we do in shifts. We guard over our lands and make sure that no vampires are trespassing. He'll howl out if he finds anything or needs assistance."

She nodded simply before returning to her breakfast.

Despite his complaining, Paul dished out more than enough food for them all. On his trek back into the kitchen he served up another helping of eggs to their mate along with a piece of fresh toast. She denied the pancakes and French-toast, most likely due to a fear of tossing them back up later. He honestly hoped that she wouldn't toss her cookies again, either. Most of it was because he detested seeing her so sick, but another part of him knew that he'd do just about anything to avoid having the stench of vomit in the air again.

He didn't know how Paul and Quil had managed to stomach cleaning it up.

Practically inhaling his own food he watched diligently as Bella picked and ate at her food slowly. Even sick and tenderly wrapped up in a quilt she looked very dignified. He could quite easily see her playing the role of a duchess or some other monarch-type in a Shakespearian play. She had a look of power and control about her that most people could only dream of possessing.

Thinking on it, he could only assume that part of it was a subconscious thing on her part. Everything that she was was predesigned. She was the Alpha female of their pack now. She was born to be a leader just as Jacob was born to be their Prime Alpha. Her inner-self was well aware of this fact and no matter what events had taken place in her life so far she had always been meant for _this_. She was meant to be theirs. Surely the Spirits, God, or whatever Supreme Being there was would not plague their mate with traits that would result in her ultimate deviation from Fate's design.

He and the others ate several helpings each of their breakfasts, passing through the kitchen multiple times and making contact with Bella in some way. At first she flinched away from their touches, but he found himself smirking devilishly when a cute pout made its way onto her lips when, after the second trip, she'd realized that she'd all but started to lean into their touches.

He kept his attention half-attuned to her at all times. Billy kept up a light, seemingly comfortable conversation with Bella for over half an hour. She only spoke a few times, but as the conversation grew longer he could hear in her voice that it was beginning to crack less. Her scent grew sharper, slightly sweeter as she smiled in pleasure when she too noticed the slow change to her voice.

When she had completely finished eating her breakfast and been quickly dismissed from the kitchen by Paul, whom refused to allow her to help with the clean-up, she made her way slowly out into the living room. She glanced around the room sheepishly, probably looking for a place to sit in the overly-crowded room.

Seth vacated his position on the couch between Quil and Jared to allow her to sit. Reluctantly she accepted the preferred spot. Chances were that she wanted to comfort of the soft cushions and warm bodies, but did not dare voice her opinions aloud.

As soon as she'd snuggled down between the two men, utterly disappearing between them, Seth plopped down in front of her legs, popped them over his shoulders, and gentle began to massage her feet through her thick socks. If her sigh of contentment was anything to go by Embry'd guess that Bella was enjoying herself immensely.

"Anything you want to watch, Princess?" Quil asked from his position behind Embry on the recliner. He currently had the remote in his hand.

"Huh?" She leaned forward slightly to look Quil in the eye. Then she shook her head slowly and settled back into the cushions.

They ended up watching another half an hour worth of Discovery Channel, this time about the Aztecs, before several of them shot a look at the clock and rose.

Embry was the first to push Seth completely aside and peck Bella on the forehead. Her brows furrowed adorably up at him. "We've got work to do renovating the Cabin. Well, Paul, Sam, and I have renovating to do. Jared's got work."

"Oh? What do you do?" She eyes Jared curiously, a small smile tugging at her pretty pink lips.

"I work at a lumber yard mostly." Jared shrugged. "I like the physical labor. It helps me relax and unwind." His mate just nodded sagely before sagging back down.

They each took turns kissing her goodbye chastely, Sam being the one to wrap he more securely in her quilt. Embry didn't miss the smoldering look she gave the other male when he wasn't looking. That look wasn't one of lustful passion. That look was one of promised retribution. He had to shiver with slight fear. Simply seeing her point such a face at another male he knew that he'd do all in his power to avoid tempting her devil.

_I have a feeling this little she-devil bites_. _Hard_.

As soon as they'd disappeared from the house they stripped and shifted into their baser selves. His teeth gritted at the accompanying pain of breaking bones, tearing muscles, and ripping flesh. He'd never get fully used to it. The pain was always gone swiftly once he was completely shifted, but the transition was not a pleasant thing. He likened shifting to MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, fighters going at it. They'd always keep fighting, but not matter how many times it happened they'd still feel the sting when a swift, clever punch managed to break their nose.

Jared vanished into the throng of trees to one side of the too small, yet cozy red house towards where they knew the lumber yard to be. Despite the growing distance his mind remained as clear in their heads as if he was standing beside them. Embry knew that until any of them shifted out they would have no privacy. Any thought or feeling they had would be shared with the others regardless of disyance.

He, Paul, and Sam moved at a trot to the cabin. It did not take long to arrive.

Embry took the cabin in slowly, smiling inwardly at its apparent good shape. Despite being over a hundred years old the cabin had maintained and stood strong. On base floor of the three-story home there was an attached garage built for three cars. It was located to the immediate right with a long, wide, hand laid stone driveway leading up to it. The driveway had a small round-about to the front double doors, which were on the left of the gently curved building, with a flower garden in the circular partition. Most all of the gardens were in need of some major weeding. Stone and wood were woven together so seamlessly that the home looked to have just grown from the earth itself.

There was a small service door at the front of the house directly to the left of the garage which Embry knew led to the laundry as well as the main hall and stairwell to the other levels. Another service door was on the far right of the house which they could stash the trash from the rest of the house yet keep the raccoons from feasting on it until the garbage man came to pick-up. As a topper the back of the house was inaccessible to anyone that did not want to get all scratched up trying to fumble through the woods. A person would have to be invited in through the home to enjoy the view of the Sea Cliffs behind. The bottom floor, he knew, would only be visible on the back-side of the house since the home was cut directly into the earth.

He shifted back over easily and slipped his jeans back on, eyeing the three bay windows. One was on the first floor in the study, a kind of office and library rolled into one, while the other two either adjoined to one of the mid-sized bedrooms on the top floor or the loft. The main entry was covered by a fierce wooden awning and two cobblestone pillars to keep it aloft.

The cabin was a major hang-out spot for the Rez kids. At least it _used_ to be. While the interior of the house was inaccessible to anyone that didn't have a key the exterior was free game. He and the others, mainly Jake and Quil since they'd been his closest friends in childhood, had climbed the trees nearby and the pillars to the roof. Truthfully he was surprised that none of them had broken their necks.

While being a hang-out spot for the kids the tribe Elders kept their eyes peeled for any delinquent behavior. The cabin was maintained by only the most trusted of the tribe, usually the newest pack generation, and often ogled by the women. A few homes within the Rez were mimicked after Lunar Cabin, its official name on the property documents, only on a much smaller scale. He suspected that had any of them been given the chance they would have claimed the place as theirs instead of making their husbands build them poor simulations.

Clearing his head of the human tribe members that were entirely unaware of the wolves in their midst, Embry padded up to the front doors. He stole the spare key from a turtle-shaped garden ornament with a hinged belly and unlocked the house so that they could enter. Jake was already in the process of getting the new security system up and running, since it had been outdated, and having keys made for all of them since all of the outer-doors had had new locks installed.

The cabin was designed and built with shapeshifters in mind, so the ceilings were blessedly high along with the doorways so that they did not have to slouch to enter or move around. The place forever smelled of the woods and the ocean surrounding the home, both of which reminded him strongly of peace and family.

The foyer was large and open, an old carved coat rack and cubby sitting inconspicuously off to the side for the residents as well as visitors to hang their coats. Directly before them was the main living room which was not blocked by any walls. A matching stone fireplace hugged the left-side wall of the living room, a wide set of storm-doors to the back wall overlooking the massive covered deck out back, and opened entirely to the right-hand side to the spacious dining room. The dining room held an oak table with several leaves to extend it enough to sit well over a dozen people. The living room was littered with matching, comfortable furniture ranging from burgundy leather to tanned, nearly golden fabric. All of the walls were a warm cream with wooden trims matching the wood the cabin itself was made of.

Embry explored the home on his own while the others set to work seeing what needed to be done or cleaned.

Even further to the right of the dining room was the kitchen. The kitchen, too, was opened to the rest of the house for the most part. The center island could be used for cooking, serving, and eating as there was a set of raised stools on the side of the dining room plunked directly up against said island. The appliances would need replacing, but that was no big deal. The rest of the space was open, gold and black granite countertops and polished oak cupboards giving the allotted cook plenty of room to create. Windows overlooked the deck and the Sea Cliffs from the corner where one would do the dishes…if they bothered to do the dishes by hand, that is. The pantry was large, a good thing for a pack of wolves, and tucked behind a door in the opposite corner of the dining room.

Beyond the kitchen, blocked by walls, he knew there to be a full laundry with cabinet space and folding room, the stairwells leading upstairs and down, and the garages. Turning back inward he passed by the study, positioned directly across from the dining room, and eyed the double-doors leading into the only bedroom on the main floor.

He didn't want to enter that room, he decided. That would be Bella's room. It was the largest and grandest in the entire home and at the center of everything. She'd have her own double-king bed, a sitting area with a fireplace, a walk-in closet Paris Hilton would kill for, a master bath with Jacuzzi tub and stand-in shower, and a piece of the covered deck out back. He knew that she'd need the space for herself. It would be up to her if she wished to share it with any one of them at any given time or if she'd prefer to lock them all out when she needed peace and quiet.

They'd all agreed last night, before Sam's impromptu session with their mate, that they would leave it up to Bella to make any and all changes to the room that she wished. It would be her domain and they had no right to it. He wouldn't be the one to infringe upon that by sauntering in just for a cursory peek.

Making an about-face he traveled upstairs to survey the loft. It was plain with a bench seat overlooking the front of the house. Cubbies were hidden under the seats for added storage. On the left was a mid-sized bedroom with its own full bath. To the back was another bedroom, the next biggest to the Master Bedroom downstairs, containing nearly as many amenities minus the sitting room, fireplace, and deck access. Embry guessed that it'd be used mainly for guests since neither he nor his brothers gave a damn about flashiness. The last room on the upper floor was another bedroom on the right, this one long with its own private porch and full bath.

Done with his quick perusal of the upper floor her slunk down to the bottom floor. Only one bedroom downstairs had its own bathroom, but it only held a sink and toilet. The other three had to share the full bath which was nestled to the side of the Recreation Room. The Rec Room had its own kind of theater, a pool table, a wet bar, and a bunch of places to sit to simply talk or play games. The Rec Room was directly below the living room and dining room and equaled them in size. It mimicked the living room's fireplace and storm doors as well as having its own set of French Doors. The bedrooms, all four of them, circled around the Rec Room. They were more frontward facing since the Rec Room overlooked the covered back patio and the Sea Cliffs.

He ventured outside to take in the view as well as look over the wood and stone to make note of any rot or wear. Like the deck just above him the patio was designed for many people, seats everywhere, and views as far as the eye could see. The outdoor fireplace was on the patio, but pushed through the deck in the shape of a stone chimney. There was room enough for dancing and frolicking as well as simple enjoyment. He knew that if he'd bother to care there was a rather spacious storage unit to his far left which they could store any number of things for the holidays or else-wise. There was a tinier storage room inside on this level as well, but chances were that they'd use that for more important things that might need the climate control to prevent damage which the larger storage room did not have.

Before reaching the Sea Cliffs themselves there was about thirty feet worth of open, green earth. An occasional raised garden could be spotted littering the property, but it all added to the place's charm. He did not know if she still enjoyed doing it from being a little girl, but Bella had always loved gardening. If she still had that hobby then he knew she'd go bananas over her chances to do so here.

Remembering what she was like as a child, Embry couldn't help but slip back into his own memories of kid'dom. He'd been a somber child before he'd truly gotten to know Quil and Jake. Despite still having his mother around he had found himself picked on incessantly for being without a legitimate father and a 'slut' for a mom. He couldn't even count in his mind how many fights he had gotten into whenever anyone was foolish enough to call his mother a slut.

He'd always known Jake and Embry, but it was when he was four years old that he'd truly become friends with them. One of the much older kids, the same one he knew now poked fun at Sam, had riled him up by repeatedly calling his mother a two-bit-whore. He'd fought the bastard right then and there, but he was still young and small compared to the fifteen year old bully. He'd gotten his ass handed to him until his now best friends had decided to help him out. The three of them still lost against the bigger kid, but they'd gotten a few good hits into him. It didn't matter that they were four year olds and shouldn't know anything beyond playing Army Men and watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles. They knew that what the older kid was doing was wrong and they stood up for themselves.

Coincidently they'd become introduced to Bella Swan when she was only four years old. Oh sure, they'd seen the baby being brought back and forth from the Blacks residence to the Swans, but they'd never really had a chance to interact with her.

The day of their meeting, however, was Fated. He knew that now without a shadow of a doubt.

Charlie had been carrying the miniscule-sized Bella on his hip from the cruiser while Renee had been toting a rather cumbersome looking stew pot. Bella had squirmed in her father's grip until he'd put her down and she ran full-tilt towards where they were playing on the property line near a very shallow stream no more than a foot across. She skidded to a halt a few feet from them, flashed them an adorable smile that only a precious child was capable of producing, and all but demanded they allow her to play with them.

That was also the first day that 'Catch the Squealer' came into existence.

_She shouldn't have pushed Jake into the mud when he tagged her out._ He thought jovially.

From that day forward they'd been all but inseparable. That is until a little before Bella turned ten years old. It was then that Renee had pulled Bella along with her in her attempt to rid herself of her husband and Forks, Washington altogether. Their little mate had returned for a couple weeks during the following two summers, but then stopped showing up entirely. They'd talked, written, and tried to retain the semblance of normalcy, but it hadn't worked. Distance had never been anyone's friend.

He'd been ecstatic when he saw her again at First Beach. He'd known she'd moved back because that old rust bucket of hers had been pawned off by Jacob himself for her use, but seeing her in the flesh had made it real. Almost immediately afterwards he'd opened communications up with her again.

_She's changed, but I can't say it's a bad thing. She's all grown up now._

He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that with the imprint working with him, his past feelings for her, and Bella's tender heart, he'd find himself madly in love with her. The wolf assured him that she was vital to his very existence now, but once his heart was attached he would not be able to take a single breathe without her scent echoing in his mind, his every thought focused onto her.

He was torn from his wandering by Sam's voice bellowing from above him on the deck.

"Earth to Flea Flicker…we've got work to do and a limited amount of time to do it in. Get your ass in here and help us." Embry growled a little in irritation, but did as he was bid. Sam was right, after all. They wanted the cabin ready for Bella and themselves as soon as possible so that she could be safer…with them…and they'd all be more comfortable.

They'd figure out the situation with Charlie Swan later.

Because he highly doubt that Chief Swan would be letting his baby girl leave his side so soon after getting her back, shapeshifter mates be damned.

* * *

><p>Bella slipped in and out of consciousness all afternoon. She was aware of Seth and Quil flittering around her whenever she was awake, constantly alert to whatever need or desire she might have. Mostly she just scowled at their coddling before curling back up on the too-comfy couch and snoozing again.<p>

At one point Jared, Sam, Embry, and Paul returned. She guessed it was lunch by the smell of grilled chicken and fresh bread lingering in the air. She would have ignored the meal as she did their attentiveness since she didn't feel that hungry, but they wouldn't allow her that freedom. On her third grunt of 'go away' she found herself plucked off of the couch, carried into the kitchen, and set down into a hard, warm lap. A very full plate of grilled garlic chicken, sautéed vegetables, and fresh bread and butter sat directly in front of her. Her lips turned down in a menacing frown at it.

"Don't look at your food like that, Bella." Jared chastised her from where she was positioned on his lap. His left arm banded around her waist keeping her pinned to him and preventing her from darting away from the buffet lain out on the table. "You need to eat to build your strength back up. Seth even made a few pieces of chicken without the garlic and skins so that there's less grease and fat to make you nauseous."

"Lucky me." She grumbled petulantly.

"Be nice." He held a fork out in front of her. The utensil was mocking her, she just knew it.

"I'm not hungry."

"Regardless, you'll eat." He easily pushed the fork into her nearly limp fingers. "You'll get better quicker if you eat. You _do_ want to get better, don't you? Cuz honestly I have no problem with having you stuck with us for an extra few days."

_Asshole_. She thought as she swung her leg as far as she could forward under the table and then thrust it heel first into Jared's shin. The bugger barely twitched his injured leg. What movement she did feel out of it was more reflex than anything. She was even more upset when he just decided to chuckle at her attempt to inflict pain on him and give her a light squeeze about the waist.

"Fine. You win." She snarled, forcing her hand to shovel the food into her mouth. She wouldn't have admitted it then, but the chicken was cooked to perfection and had she actually been hungry she could have eaten an entire loaf of bread on her own. Gladly.

Once she'd eaten all she was going to she wiggled off of Jared's lap, steadfastly pretending she hadn't felt his promising erection sliding across her rump as she did so, and plopped herself right back onto the couch in front of the television. She flicked the remote until she found something she could stand to fall asleep to. She could handle watching sports in her regular waking hours, but the monotony of the narration would keep her away from the sleep she so craved.

The first chords of the introduction song to '_Phantom of the Opera_' greeted her welcomingly. With a light grin she dropped the remote to the floor. She didn't care if any of the guys grabbed the remote up after she'd drifted off to sleep, but if they so much as tried to reach for it while she was still zoning she would pull their dickies off. She was sick, tired, and cranky. She couldn't be held responsible for her own actions.

The guys returned after they too had finished eating and congregated around her for a time, but by the time she'd fallen asleep and woken back up most of them were gone and her company had apparently changed for the afternoon or evening shift. She wasn't entirely sure what time of day it was, which was no real surprise since considering she'd been snoozing the day away.

_Oh goodie, new babysitters_. She thought huffily.

Instead of Quil and Seth she found Jacob and Embry acting as her bracers on the couch. She knew instantly that if Jacob was here then another one of them must be on _patrol_. It was in their blood to protect the tribe after all.

She scrunched her eyebrows up in consternation, trying to recall if she'd woken up at any time. It seemed impossible that she could snooze right through her head being placed on a muscled thigh and her legs hoisted up into an equally corded lap. Rough, work-shod hands rubbed at her calves through the quilt tucked fairly tightly around her.

"Are you awake finally, Sleeping Beauty?" Embry questioned cheerily to her sleep-fogged mind.

"Careful, Embry, you know Bella's not a morning person. It takes a half-hour at the least for her mind to make that fateful step from 'fuck off' to 'you've got a fifty-fifty chance of losing your private parts if you address me'." Jake chortled as his hands continued their wonderful assault on her person.

"But she likes me. Don't you, darlin'?"

"Fuck off." She growled, pinning her quilt up over her eyes. Jacob and Embry boomed with laughter, the vibrations from their chests rocking pleasantly through her.

"Have you been a good girl for the guys, Bella?" Jake queried while methodically working the pads of his thumbs into the sorely neglected muscles of her legs. A contented sigh escaped her lips easily. Her brain determinedly turned itself to mush at the exquisite feeling. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd continued with the chiding questions meant for a toddler and not an eighteen year old woman. Massages were a major physical weakness of hers and she could make herself get mad.

She hummed gratefully as the wonderfully controlled caresses continued. She could all but feel the male satisfaction rolling off of the guys. It was a point of pride, she knew, for a man to know how to please his woman.

_But am I his woman? Any of theirs?_

Bella sobered a little at that, her thoughts from that morning coming back to her. She needed to find out the full truth of what was going on here in La Push, especially between them all. She gulped a little and stared up into Embry's dark eyes, which were trained onto her prone form.

"Can I ask you something? And I want an honest answer." The last was said on a near whisper, her cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment for being so forward.

"Go ahead, darlin'." Embry encouraged her, his tone light with pleasant emotions despite the deep timber of any of their voices.

"You all want me because it's a shapeshifter thing, right?" He didn't respond, but he didn't need to. She could see the surprise in his eyes, feel his leg stiffen under her head, and Jacob's hands had ceased their melodic rhythm on her legs. She sighed dejectedly, a sad smile on her lips.

"That's all right." She inserted quickly, trying not to feel too awkward or let the implications of that fact worm their way into her heart. "It's just instinct, I guess. I just wanted to know. I mean, there probably aren't many men alive that would willingly share a woman that they truly love. It makes sense. I'm not really much of a catch as it is, mousy and clumsy as you well know, so it's logical that something else was pointing you guys to me."

Bella moved to sit up, to get out of their reach, because inwardly she was crumbling to have the confirmation that they didn't _really_ want her themselves. It was all instinctive. The baser part of them saw her as prime breeding stock, most likely, though she couldn't possibly understand why. There were definitely more attractive, smarter, better women out there in the world than her.

It was in her motions to escape, though, that she found herself almost roughly pulled back down into Embry's lap by her shoulders. His beefy right arm was settled heavily over her shoulders and collar bone, his hand cupping at her opposite shoulder. She felt rather than saw Jacob's hands slip under the quilt, push up her pajama bottoms, and shackled her calves with his hands. It wasn't a domineering or frightening gesture. The gentleness in which they both touched her assured her that she did not have to worry for her safety.

Embry scowled down at her and set the fingers of his left hand to either temple to keep her head from pivoting away from him. His eyes literally blazed with a fierce fire.

"I will tell you this once, Isabella, and then I want to hear nothing more of it from you. Yes, our sureness in choosing you as our _mate_," her eyes widened at the word, "is because of the wolves within us, but we are not based solely on our wolves. The wolves are us. If we were not attracted to you, if we did not see your beauty inside and out, then do you truly believe that our base selves, the very soul of our beings, would choose to be with you for the rest of our lives? The answer is no, Bella. There is a reason why you are perfect for us.

"Know that even before I first shifted I was attracted to you…and not as a brother is fond of his little sister. There is much about you to love. You are warm, kind, generous, beautiful, and above all you are a good person. Any one of us, regardless of the shift, would be honored to have you by our sides until our dying breaths."

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish floundering on fry land, but Jacob's even more gravelly voice drew her attention to him. His hands had tightened about her calves, but not painfully.

"We did not wish to tell you of the wolves choosing you as Alpha female because we had little doubt that you would choose to think, as you do now, that we could never want you on our own. Do not think of our wolves as forcing us to comply to what would be best for evolutionary rights, for breeding, Bella. While we will undoubtedly love to breed you when the day comes and whenever you are ready, our wolves selected you because _you_ are what is best for _us_. It is us as men that will love you when the time comes…the wolves just help us to know who is perfect for us and who to focus our attention on. A compass pointing North, if you will."

"The wolves do not make us fall in love." Embry told her with a little smirk pulling at his lips. "You, my mate, will make us love you with all your infinite wonder, and we will fall in line like the canines we are when the moment is right."

They sat in pure silence for a long while, the TV only serving as a kind of white noise in the background. Bella felt her heart thumping radically in her chest. She was only dimly aware of Embry's hands shifting to work out the tension in her shoulders while Jacob went back to tending to her legs.

_Well, you _did_ ask_. Her subconscious self replied in an almost shell-shocked manner.

She hadn't expected them to see through her words so easily. She hadn't wanted them to. She was an insecure person by nature, especially now after Edward's departure. She wanted to believe that it wasn't all up to her to keep them with her…and she wanted them with her in some capacity no matter how insane that sounded. She could deal with the supernatural. She was good with that. Extremely good, actually. Who else would go into a home filled to the brim with blood-drinking vampires or shapeshifting wolves?

And yes, it did hurt a little at first to think that none of them truly wanted her on their own, but she could work with that. It meant that she couldn't screw anything up. She could lose her temper, maybe even throw a tantrum or cry a few times, and they'd still want her around…she hoped. If it was as they said, though, and she had no reason to discount them, then she could easily lose her friendship with the ones that she was friends with and the companionship of the others.

That though caused her heart to cease painfully.

_I don't want to be alone_.

She had to think. And she would. She'd drown herself in her thoughts until the others returned for dinner. She'd figure this all out…somehow.

Very suddenly the movie '_Overboard_' with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn came to mind and she wondered if she was going to end up like Joanne Stayton (or was it Annie Proffitt?) and start mumbling incoherently with the shock of what she'd just heard.

In all honesty, she wouldn't have been surprised if she did.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy ya'll! I got my computer back up and running…for now anyway. Did you miss me? I certainly got quite a few messages inquiring into my health and yes, I'm fine. I believe I did warn ya'll that my computer might malfunction on me at times. Regardless, I am sorry that I have been unable to update until now. I hope that the chapter will be up to expectations, but sadly I haven't been able to tweak it completely and it may have some faults. I just needed to make sure that I go it updated and I'll adjust it in the next few days if it needs it.

Anyway, I hope to get some reviews…this story is a pretty big hit, which I'm kind of shocked over. As always, please keep your language respectful towards me and my readers, but any critiques are welcome (swear all you like, just don't point the finger at each other).

Here's hoping my computer will behave and I can update within my two-week time-period.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	8. Chapter 8: Tomorrow and Tomorrow

**Chapter Eight: Tomorrow and Tomorrow**

Five days of torturous imprisonment. She could think of nothing else to call her 'stay' at the Black household. While she was able to enjoy herself at times and slept for the bigger portion of any given day, she was harried and driven to the brink of madness by seven very overprotective, testosterone-filled, bubble-headed, chauvinistic shapeshifters.

She'd learned a great deal about each and every one of them from her stay in the house. In fact, despite how absolutely crazy they drove her to feel she couldn't help but think of them all fondly and know that she had made some new friends.

Unfortunately the bad times tended to heavily outweigh the good times with them.

Truthfully she couldn't really call them bad times. It was more like extreme annoyance. She was permitted to eat, sleep, rest, and use the bathroom, but little else. Poor Billy had taken to staying with either the Clearwater's or the Ateara's to get away from the obsessive indulgence of the seven men almost always slaving around her. Even when she began feeling much better they would not allow her to even lift a finger. She had to continuously make noise while in the bathroom or else one of them would become worried she'd fallen and couldn't get up, thereby finding it appropriate to charge in to her rescue. She could neither make any one of their meals nor clean the dishes. She was too weak to be on her feet for that length of time, they said. Every time she even made a move to get up off of the bed or couch she'd be hurriedly pressed back down into the cushions to gather her strength.

_Damn dirty dogs_. She snarled inwardly.

She supposed that any woman in her right mind would have committed murder to be doted on as much as she was, but she was no normal woman apparently. At first their caring had been sweet and she'd relished in it, but after the first couple of days she was ready to scream bloody murder. She wanted to move about and at least help them in some way to thank them for taking her in as they had, but they would hear none of it. 'Keep that quilt wrapped around you. It's cold.' One would say. 'Here, baby, let me rub your feet for you.' Another would chime. 'Get back in bed, little one, or I will put you back.'

Bella was quite certain that she could have cheerfully broken any one of their noses if they so much as thought of ordering her around like that again.

Paul was actually the worst with orders. The buffoon didn't seem to understand that his Neanderthal-like tendencies were far more likely to piss her off than they were to endear her to him. While all the guys were assuredly dominant in nature, that man was the worst of them all with making her listen to him. He wasn't above threating her, either.

Oh sure, he would never threaten her or her family in any physical way, but the worm certainly knew how to get his way with blackmail. 'Push that quilt off, Isabella, and I promise that I'll swaddle you in it like Jacob did and you won't be able to get out of it without help'. If his tone had been anything but calm and decisive she might have tried going against one of his commands. As it was she had little doubt that he'd meet out any one of his threats without preamble.

_Dick-wad_.

Bella glared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked better than she had. While her skin was still pale, all thanks to her genetic inheritance, she no longer had that odd grey pallor that all sick people seemed to get. The dark circles that had been under her eyes had all but disappeared. Her hair was once again beginning to shine instead of looking like she'd just made a trek through the Sahara Desert. She'd lost a very miniscule amount of weight over the course of the past five days, but she'd get it back.

Nodding her head definitively she swept her hands up into her hair to pull it back into a mid-height ponytail.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Jared asked from the other side of the locked bathroom door. She gave it a sidelong glance before shaking her head in dismissal. They were so paranoid.

"Dressing." She replied shortly.

"It normally doesn't take you this long to get dressed. Are you feeling okay?" She could hear the worry in his voice and could practically see him scenting the air in her mind's eye, as if trying to smell if her sickness had come back and pervaded her normal odor. She'd seen them do it multiple times over her stay in the house. Their sense of smell really was something to marvel over.

"Peachy." She glanced down at the reason changing had taken longer. Normally she'd only bother putting on her elastic or draw-string pajama bottoms and a suitable top to keep her warm. Today, though, she had chosen something a little different.

Because she _was_ going home today.

She'd chosen a single pair of jeans which Jacob had brought for her and her teal, turtleneck sweater. The clothes were warm and comfortable, but definitely far from the lounging clothes she'd been doting around in since Jacob had brought her to his dad's place. It felt kind of good to have on real clothes for a change. She still needed the thicker socks on to keep her frigid toes warm, but that really wasn't a big deal. She didn't have any plans to go anywhere besides home so she didn't really need to make a fashion statement.

The impatient dog jiggled the locked handle, a small growl echoing through the wood. She smirked.

"Bella, will you unlock the door, please?" He asked sweetly enough, but she really wasn't in a giving mood.

"Let me finish, Jared, and I'll be out."

"Are you sure you're not…"

"I'm _fine_, Jared." It came out more like a frustrated snarl than anything. She shook her head clear of her upset. She didn't exactly have a good enough reason to be frustrated. She'd been taken care of appropriately and was just rounding the final bend of her recovery. They'd all been civil towards her. More than that, actually. They didn't deserve her attitude. "Sorry. I'll be out in a minute or two. Are there still some sausage links left?"

She _had_ to ask. They guys were downright pigs. It was a wonder that she didn't vomit from watching them practically inhale one course after another. One stack of pancakes. A bowl of fruit. A three pound steak. A rack of ribs. A massive bowl of popcorn. A bag of potato chips. A six-pack of orange soda. The sad thing was that all of that would be like an appetizer for them if they allowed their bodies to have full reign. It was their metabolism, they had said. The shifting took a lot of energy and they got that from the food they ate. It made a lot of sense, but it was still an unbelievable sight to behold.

"Yeah, Quil put some in a baggie in the fridge in case you were still hungry." He was silent for about half a second before his meddlesome need to see to her well-being reared its bothersome head. "You don't eat enough. Your stomach isn't upset anymore. You should be eating a lot more."

"Yes, Daddy." She mocked in a child-like voice.

_And the bitch makes a comeback. She's got him up against the wall, folks. Let's see what he'll do for retaliation_…

"I mean it, Isabella. If you lose as much as another half a pound I'll put you down onto my lap and feed you myself."

_Ooh, bad move. Should'a just dropped the ball._

Chucking her hairbrush into the already packed backpack of her bathing things she whipped open the door of the bathroom with all the power she could and glared the long way up into Jared's dark eyes. She took great pleasure when he stepped back into the wall of the narrow hallway in the face of her displeasure.

"I am so _sick_ of being manhandled and having you guys getting high-handed with me!" With one hand she picked up her duffel and the backpack with the other. She continued to sneer at the man's confused and slightly apprehensive face. "I may only be eighteen years old, but I'm a grown-up, damn it! I can make my own decisions and I sure as Hell know what my limits are. When I'm hungry I eat. When I'm tired I sleep. When I'm happy I laugh. It's all very simple and I don't need you all telling me what to do with my body when I know what it wants and needs.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy what's left of breakfast."

She moved swiftly through the cramped house, steadfastly ignoring Sam who sat with wide eyes on the couch. He was outright staring at her, but she honestly didn't care. She was still miffed with him for fingering her off when she'd first come to the Black's house and not alerting her to the fact that they'd had an audience. No amount of 'they weren't here for all of it' could cool the heat that always rose to her cheeks when they brought the subject up.

She despised having her very public orgasm, and theirs, brought into the spotlight.

Bella allowed the duffel and backpack to _thunk_ onto the ground just outside the doorway into the kitchen as she passed through the threshold. Looking around it didn't surprise her that Billy wasn't around. There was tension whenever he was around, she had noticed. The guys were always shooting him glares when he looked about ready to pass on a bit if wisdom.

_Men are all idiots_. Her mind supplied the fact readily, certain that this simple truth could solve every equation that could be thrown at her involving these males or any other out in the universe.

"Bella?" Tentative wasn't a tone she was used to hearing from Samuel Uley. None of them, actually. He sure sounded that way now. "Why are you dressed in regular clothes?"

"I'd think it would be obvious. I'm better and I'm going to go home." She really didn't sound like so much of a Queen Bee expecting to get her way, her stinger at the ready if one of her drones decided to nix her proclamations, most of the time. Bella knew without a shadow of a doubt that while she was quick-witted and could usually hold a fairly decent conversation like a civilized being she was currently under duress. She'd been holed up in this house for five days, most of it suffering from horrid sickness, and her personality took a massive nosedive from politely attractive to bitchy callousness.

She didn't retract her statement, however, or try to butter them up. She was in no mood to sugarcoat everything.

Both males visibly tensed, but kept their mouths shut as she gathered up the few sausage links left, and four pieces of French Toast sticks to put into the microwave. They were discussing something behind her back, she knew. The only time the hair stood at the back of her neck was when they were preparing to do something she knew that she wouldn't like.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the front door shut almost soundlessly, as much as an old wooden door like that could, only to be followed seconds later by the sound of a nearby wolf howling.

_Their calling in the Calvary_.

"Seven of you against one of me? Isn't that a bit unfair?" She half-teased over her shoulder as the microwave beeped.

"Unfair to who? Surely you mean us." Sam hawk-eyed her all the way into the living room where she sat down in front of the television. She wasn't surprised to see a Discovery Channel original special playing. "If it was any less than all of us you'd have us steam-rolled."

"Doubt it," Bella snorted, popping a delicious piece of sausage into her mouth. She'd never say it out loud, at least not now, but she was thrilled that she'd landed in a house full of men who knew how to cook. Charlie couldn't put milk in his cereal without burning something and if she didn't cook then they'd either starve or be eating pizza for a week.

_Yuck_.

She kept munching sedately as Sam leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his wide chest. The look on his face was caught somewhere between a glare and an ogle. He was obviously peevish about her decision to go home, but at the same time 'drowned by her beauty'.

It drove her absolutely batty to have the guys complimenting her the way they did. Once in a while they said something stupid and entirely too male to come off as endearing to women, such as Jacob's proclamation that it would be no hardship to breed her, but on the whole they were able to make her blush all the way down to her toes with praise. It surprised her every time to hear the sincerity in their voices when they called her beautiful, smart, and an all-around good person. She was on the fence with 'adorable' and 'cute' since she couldn't view herself in such childish terms any longer, but she didn't chastise them for calling her that.

Barely five minutes had passed when the clear sound of footfalls echoed up the few steps out front. She sighed deeply as the door was thrust aside to admit the entrance of six half-dressed Natives. The circled the couch to make up a clustered half-circle before her. If she wanted to run she'd have to vault over the back of the couch, which she highly doubted she'd have to speed to do even in perfect health. Super speed wasn't simply a vampiric trait, she'd discovered early on.

"Why are you dressed that way, Bella?" Jacob intoned in his striking baritone. She smirked at him.

"You mean you don't like it?" She allowed her lips to pout a moment before she set her plate aside. Since none of the men took the bait she decided she might as well get this over with. "I'm going home."

"You still aren't well."

"Not a hundred percent, no." At several cocked brows she shrugged. "I know I'm not perfect. My breathing still hitches every now and then, but I'm not sneezing, puking, dizzy, or exhausted. I'd say I'm at about ninety-five percent again, which means that it's time for me to get back home. I have school to attend to and three days of work to make up for since I missed out on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Actually, it'd be Tuesday, too, since I'm obviously going to be absent from morning classes today and it's pointless to just go in for a half a day."

"You still aren't well." Bella sagged into the couch with exasperation. Did all men have a one-track mind when they got bull-headed?

"I'm well enough." She gritted out.

They continued to stare her down as if they hadn't heard her speak at all. Or perhaps she was speaking in a foreign language they knew nothing about?

Then she remembered that all men were idiots.

_Compromise_. Her inner self chanted triumphantly. The sudden revelation had her eyes widening fractionally. She was dealing with men, shapeshifters, who insisted she was their mate. She'd learned over her stay at the Black house that a very basic part of them coveted her presence…perhaps even required it. She hadn't been left without at least one of them in the house with her, most likely two. She could scarcely go to the bathroom without one of them hounding after her. Despite the fact that the 'human' in them only had friendly affection and lustful thoughts for her, as she knew it wasn't more than that, the 'wolf' in each of them considered her irrevocably necessary to their very existence.

She still wasn't comfortable with even thinking that thought.

She knew, though, that with this revelation that she would not be able to simply get up and leave. She couldn't stay and she didn't really want to. She'd become their friend, learned a fair amount about each of their personalities, but she had a life outside of them and their supernatural hullabaloo. It wasn't grand or glamorous, but it _was_ hers.

Her mind worked frantically as she tried to go over every possible scenario that could play out in the next few minutes. She needed to compromise with the guys. She wanted to leave. They wanted her to stay. There had to be middle-ground somewhere.

Not surprisingly a thought pinged into her mind inspired by their wolfy ways.

The wolf wanted her to be safe? That could be arranged. She didn't have to stay in La Push directly under their noses and she'd make sure they understood that much at least.

"Does your territory extend to my home? Do you patrol there?" She questioned them with a quirked brow. She knew that the shapeshifters and vampires of generations past had come to an agreement that La Push was off-limits from the 'leeches' as well as most of Forks, which was why only the Cullen home on the furthest border of Forks was considered 'vampire territory'. Her home was on the outskirts of town as well, but closer to the side of the Reservation.

"Yes." Quil nodded once, almost sagely. "When we scented you your home became a part of our territory by connection to you. We patrol there daily."

"Then you can let me go home because my home is on your regular patrol. If something happened, which I doubt highly, how far out are you really?" They all seemed pensive, but she knew that logic was on her side for the moment. They could run as fast as any vampire, a necessity if they were to be able to take down even a single vampire, which meant that even at their farthest from her home they were no more than a few minutes away. She would be willing to bet the deed to her house that at least one of them would be running a constant patrol on her home, too, if she was able to convince them to let her go peacefully.

_I'll fight, kick, and scream if I have to, but Dear Lord I hope I don't have to belittle myself that way_. She thought to herself.

The seven males were ominously silent as they stared her down. Despite her determination to win this argument she found her fingers fidgeting in her lap. It wasn't particularly comfortable being studied more deeply than a blood smear on a petri dish in a crime lab. Bella couldn't help but think that she'd have less intimidating encounters with army Generals than she was having with these men right now.

"We're going to make a deal with you, Bella." Jacob began in a no-nonsense, political tone. She felt her spine straightening automatically as if she really was facing down one of those imaginary Generals. "We have certain stipulations that we want you to agree on, otherwise there's no compromise. You'll stay here if we can't work something out. Understood?"

"Okay." She nodded doggedly a couple of times, a little trepid, but mostly determined to meet out any within-reason requests/demands he set forth.

"Firstly, you are not to overtax yourself for the next week. We mean this, Bella. No going back to work at Newton's and no overly physical activities until you are one-hundred percent better. We won't allow a relapse. If this requirement isn't met I'm going to tell Charlie that you've decided to stay here indefinitely."

She sneered at the man in front of her. "That's a little under-handed, don't you think?"

"When it comes to your health and safety, little one, there is nothing that I would not do to ensure it. I want you to be happy, but your well-being will take precedence over your contentment with me every time. I am certain that the others are of the same mind."

"You better believe it." Seth inserted with a firm bob of his head, fire glinting in his dark eyes. The others chorused in their own versions of assent.

_Rotten, slimy, conniving dogs_. Bella cursed them inwardly, but refused to voice her opinions out loud. She wasn't going to be childish. She needed to be civil, as civil as one can be in face of such arrogant men, in order to get what she wanted.

_Bloodshed is a last resort, but one I might be willing to take if male idiocy persists_. A devilish piece of her quipped all too cheerily.

"Next." She snapped, ignoring the narrowed eyes cast her way for her tone. Apparently it was considered a no-no to act in anything less than respect towards her alphas. Too bad. She was her own woman and even if it took every female trick in the book she'd get what she wanted. She wasn't playing nice anymore.

Five days of arguably submissive behavior had left her temperament flayed to the point that she just didn't give a flying rat's patooky what they wanted.

"Before you leave you'll give me your cell phone. I'll program all of our numbers into it. If you go anywhere besides home, this includes school, you are to either call or text us to tell us where you are going."

"Why?" She frowned, not liking this controlling Jacob in the least bit.

"Because we want to know where you'll be and if anything happens we will be prepared. Do you really think that it would be smart to leave us out of the loop only to have us track you down by scent? I can guarantee you that if you at least forewarn us that we won't haul you out of a situation we had no knowledge of. If you get it into your pretty little head to be sneaky…well, honey, your fun for the night will be ended indefinitely."

"You're acting like a controlling ass-hole." She gasped with horror. She didn't fear them. For some reason even in the very pits if her stomach she knew that she had no reason to fear them, but she sure as snot didn't like these changes in them. They were becoming far more controlling and demanding. While she appreciated the open honesty in the communication she wasn't entirely positive that she wanted to continue associating with them, mating be damned, if they sought to rule over her this way.

Jacob growled a little, but it was Seth that stepped out of the line-up to crouch down directly in front of her. His large hands were set upon her slender knees as he glanced the very short distance up at her through concerned eyes.

"I know how that sounds, Bella, I really do, but you need to understand where we're coming from. Sam was the first of us to change barely a year ago. Jacob was the last not even two weeks ago. None of us were born with these instincts clamoring so strongly in us that we were able to learn to adjust to situations as time went on. We're constantly fighting with ourselves right now. We have been ever since we first shifted. There are times when our most basics selves fight to rule over the rest of us, to get what it wants when it wants it. There are times when it's easier to push the wolf down and into the background while at other times it's nearly impossible.

"You are one of the few things in our lives that are making ignoring our wolves all but impossible. It's hard to explain since you do not have the same mind-set that we now do, but the easiest way I can convey it to you is to say that it is like having your conscience acting as another entity inside you with more control over your body. When it urges you to eat you find yourself eating. When it pushes at you to sleep you'll sleep. It does not matter whether you wanted to eat or sleep at the time, the simple urge to do so will overcome you.

"The moment we scented you it was all over. The wolf took over when it came to you. It screams at us to protect you, to see you happy and safe. As hard as it is for me to say it, after having lived as a normal person for so long with only myself to worry about, you have become the central point in our universe. In the deepest parts of my mind and heart I know that if anything, absolutely _anything_ happened to you that I would no longer have something to hold me to this Earth."

Bella gaped at him, doing a remarkable impression of a black hole with her wide open mouth. How many times could one person be Gob-smacked before it did irreparable damage to the brain? Or even her heart? She didn't want to believe any of this. She could make her mind accept the fact that there were such things as shapeshifters and vampires since it was just a simple change of DNA that made them what they were. It was the metaphysical stuff she was having a doozy of a time comprehending.

_I don't think I'll ever understand why their wolves chose me. Maybe I don't even want to._

"Bear with us, Bella. Please. We'll get better with time, I'm sure, once we've learned to function in the bodies we now have, but for now we're running off of instinct. Our wolves are pounding at us harder than you can ever comprehend to ensure your well-being. It's not something we can just shake off no matter how much you might want us to."

"I feel trapped." She admitted softly, staring back into his bottomless pits for eyes. She was having difficulty differentiating between the pupil and the iris.

"No, Bella, no." Seth's hands worked up and down her jean-clad thighs in a soothing pattern. "We're not trying to trap you or control you. We just want to know that you're going to be safe. That nothing bad is going to happen to you. We're not asking you to ask us for permission in anything, but we do want to know where you're going to be so that if anything happens that we can be right there for you. Please, Bella, understand. Please."

Unwittingly she found her right hand falling softly onto the top of his head. Her fingernails scraped along the skin of his scalp beneath his spiky, ink black hair. A contended purr rumbled from his barreled chest almost immediately. While she hadn't intended for the action to pleasure him as it did, she'd come to enjoy doing the same thing to the other guys over her stay and found it calming, she was inordinately happy that she'd brought him some comfort.

"Just…just tell me what else you want and I'll listen. I can't promise that I'll accept everything, but I need to hear you all out." She exhaled deeply and allowed herself to ease back into the cushions behind her.

"As Seth said, we're not trying to control you Bella. We're not going to tell you what to do and when to do it, but we want to know that we'll be able to be there for you in any time of need." Jacob, too, sighed and rubbed his fingers through his short cropped hair. "We also want you to come back to La Push every weekend to visit unless you have plans…and please don't make plans every weekend just to avoid us. If you do we'll just come to see you. We all want to get to know you better and hope that in time you'll get to know us.

"We'd also like for you to invite us over for dinner some nights, not all of us of course. Charlie should get used to seeing us around and in all honesty I simply want to be near you. If I can only truly interact with you during dinner one night a week then I'll take it."

When he remained silent she asked, "Anything else?"

"No, Bella. Those are our only stipulations."

They allowed her time to think in silence. Seth's deliciously warm hands continued to rub up and down her thighs. Goosebumps erupted on her arms and down her back at the sensation. She was close to being fully better, but she still got the chills easily. Any of their bodies touching hers in some way made her feel as if she'd walked in from a snow-storm and straight up to a raging fireplace. It was a wonderful feeling, truthfully.

She could handle the first, third, and last requests easily. She had never intended to make herself sick again my abusing her body while it was still healing. She hated being sick and rarely was, so she would not purposely put herself in that position again. She also wanted to spend time with all of the guys, talk to them and listen to them. They were her friends now. She'd come to enjoy their company and she really didn't want to just break away from them. They treated her beyond well and deserved the best she could offer them in return. She knew that her schedule, even with work, would allow her time with them all. The only thing she'd have to work on was getting her father to agree to them visiting.

Bella had spoken to her worrisome father every night of her stay at the Black household. He'd seemed a little put-off that she really was better taken care of with the guys, but he hadn't gotten an attitude once. He'd often asked her what she felt for the guys individually and she had told him honestly each time that they were wonderful to her, if not meddlesome and annoying as all men tended to be. If she was correct in her assumptions Charlie would be accepting of having a few nightly visitors every now and then.

Billy was over all the time, anyway. So why couldn't she have her own friends?

The only problem she had was with them wanting her to call every time she was about to make a move. It seemed domineering and entirely too controlling to her. It might have been how Jacob had phrased it at first, but she genuinely felt unnerved by it. She could be submissive to those she cared for, but she couldn't just lie back and take other people's crap. She couldn't let herself be controlled in such a way. In her might she couldn't help but think that this was the first step in the wrong direction. If they could ask this of her then what else would they want her to do?

It wasn't a settling idea.

It was when she looked into Seth's eyes once more that she felt her will caving in. She had never truly understood how someone could read into another person's eyes since eyes had no way of expressing emotion in the way the muscles of the rest of a face could, but she found that she could see exactly how Seth was feeling…how they all were feeling. There was determination and lust in that hooded, single look, but at a deeper level there was something far more important to her. In the way his gaze flicked from one of her eyes to the other she could see the trepidation in him…the _need_.

They needed her. They didn't want to lose her. It was by that single look that she knew that they weren't doing this or saying such things out of cruelty or in an attempt to rein her in. They were acting in the only way they knew physically possible to keep her with them.

She was a goner for even considering agreeing to this ridiculousness.

Huffing out the breath she'd been holding she told herself that she'd help them as best she could with their wolves. She'd try and make things easy on them and she'd teach them how best to work with her to make them all happy in the end.

_The first thing they'll be learning is that high-handedness will only result in a tongue-lashing and an ass-kicking._ The inner her assured her as the internal lesson plan wrote itself out for future use. It would be needed.

"All right. We have a deal." Her gaze shifted from Seth's triumphant face to Jacob's. The Alpha wolf seemed disgustingly appeased. "In exchange for you all not throwing a fit with me going home I'll keep in contact, take care of myself, give out a few nightly invites, and make sure you know where I'll be."

She thrust her hand outward over Seth's shoulder. Jacob looked her over carefully as if her body language would assure him of her truthfulness. Maybe it did. She didn't know. He nodded his head once, firmly, before snapping her far smaller hand up into his meaty paw and shaking it three times.

"We'll hold you to this, honey." He warned in his too deep, bedroom voice.

"I know."

Once her hand was released she pushed up to her feet. Seth backed away from her to give her the room she needed to stand straight.

"I should probably get going. It's still kind of early and I want to get situated back home." When she went to move past Seth his hand shot out to black her path. His hand settled over her flat stomach like a living shield. The heat of his body leeched through her sweater and into her slightly cold skin. The sensation caused her to shiver slightly.

"You're not going alone." He told her firmly, his eyes staring pointedly down at her. He was the shortest of them, but still drastically taller than she. "I'll drive you there."

"But I…" Her words were cut off as Paul stomped forward and stole her cellphone out of her front right jean pocket. She rarely used the thing. Mainly she used the alarm and made occasional 'emergency' calls home if she wasn't near a landline. That was it.

"No buts, Bella. Seth will drive you." The older wolf retorted smoothly, his fingers working deftly on the keypad. His brows furrowed. "You need a new phone. This one is outdated by at least two years."

"If it works it doesn't need replacing." She sniped.

Paul huffed.

She'd come to discover during her 'incarceration' that Paul was a pretty big techie. He knew the ins and outs of just about every computer system out there…his words, not hers. She hadn't truly believed him until he'd started dribbling out loads of information on different schematics and codes to high-tech software's. In the end, after shaking the oncoming headache off since she had no business being around numbers of any sort, she'd given him a good ribbing about being a geek. He hadn't liked the affectionate nickname no matter how many times she insisted that she adored geeks. He was too manly to accept any endearing terms that weren't within the realms of 'chest-thump worthy'.

_Even if I can't say it out loud he's still a lovable geek to me_. She giggled inwardly.

"Remind me to have a talk with you about keeping up to date on everything you need to." He gave her a look from the side before plugging numbers back into her phone.

"Having the latest models and toys at my fingertips isn't something I'd _need_, Paul. A need is food, water, and some form of shelter. A shiny new phone doesn't exactly rank anywhere on my list of wants, let alone priorities." She attempted to snatch her phone back, but he kept it away from her easily with his long reaching arms.

"Ah ah, sugar. Let me finish this first and then you may have it back." Paul worked quickly with her phone, his eyes never once leaving the screen. Watching his almost fat looking fingers gliding so effortlessly across the tiny keys she wondered how he didn't end up pressing double digits.

Then again, if she thought back onto it, they were all very adept at using what the good Lord gave them even after their first shift. They'd all shown her their expertise in giving foot massages and Quil had a particular fascination with combing and braiding her hair. His fingers always ghosted through her hair as if feathers. It was actually quite intimidating that they could be so gentle, but knowing that those hands were literally weapons of destruction. One wrong move and they could very easily snap her neck.

_But they wouldn't. They wouldn't hurt me under any circumstances_. She didn't need their verbal verification of that thought to know it was true. She felt it deep down in her gut.

Her own fingers curled around her phone and pulled on it forcefully once Paul had finished with his work. He was smirking down at her and she could all but hear his mind chanting 'she's just so adorable' within her own mind. If she stuck her tongue out at him like she wanted to it would only just verify his claims.

So Bella just turned her back on him and pouted.

His laughter rang out behind her.

She flicked her phone back open and opened the contact list. Sure enough quite a few numbers were added into it. The numbers ranged anywhere from what she assumed to be their cellphone numbers to work phones and family numbers. Their parents' homes were all listed. She glanced back over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow at Paul.

"We should almost always be reachable by cellphone, but if by some chance we're not you need to have some number to reach us at. We visit our old homes frequently and if we are not there and are not on patrol we would be in work." He explained with a shrug, as if this wasn't a matter of great importance to them or strangeness to her.

"Uh…thanks." She flicked her gaze back over the long list again before flicking the screen down and shoving it back into her jean pocket. She didn't care to think how Paul had even known it was in her front pocket as he had, especially when her sweater covered the pockets of her jeans down to the curve of her butt.

"I'll get her truck warmed up." Embry sounded incredibly depressed as he disappeared out the doorway with her bags in hand. Quil caught her eyes following him and explained.

"None of us want you to leave, Princess. Especially not when you're still sick."

"I'm not nearly as sick as I was." She eyed each of them carefully. "You couldn't expect me to stay here forever. I like you guys an awful lot and I know that your wolves want me as an…uhm, mate, but I can't not go home. I have Charlie and school and work. I can't put life on hold no matter how much I or you might want me to."

Jared slunk forward then, his arms reaching all the way around her to cage her too tiny waist and chest in comparison to his own. Her shocked eyes connected with his and found them hooded. He bent over her so much that his nose practically touched her own. His hot breath, smelling and tasting so much like Jake's minty breath caused her own breathing to become labored. There was something else there, too. Maybe hazelnut?

"Oh, sweetheart, you don't get it, do you?" His growled out words sent her hormones buzzing. The vibrations through his chest echoed through her own body and made her nipples bead up against his wide chest. Jacob, curse him, hadn't packed any of her bras so her girls were left to their torture of being massaged into those blissfully hard pecs.

One of Jared's hands lowered to cup at her right butt cheek from the confines of her jeans. The other rose until his fingers circled her neck from behind, the fingers tracing defined, electrical patterns up and down the column of it. She nearly swallowed her tongue.

"You're ours, Bella. The only reason you're going home is because you want to and we know that it'd make you more comfortable to have some space." His lips hovered so close to her own that she was finding it difficult to concentrate on his words. She desperately wanted to lunge forward and suckle on them. "But make no mistake, sweetheart, we're going to be there. We'll keep you surrounded. We'll make sure you're protected and happy. You'll know we're there, watching and waiting. That we have the power to do anything and everything for you."

His fingers clenched a little around the column of her throat making her heart rate sore. Her own arms had risen at some point during his speech to clench at his muscular back, her nails clawing into the bare, russet skin there. His smirk of twisted pleasure, knowing what he was doing to her physically, was having a massive effect on her womanly facilities.

"You're ours, Bella. You had best get used to it."

With those passionate, growled-out words she found her mouth covered by his. Her eyes closed in absolute bliss. His lips worked in a meticulous, fervent pattern over her own and made her moan. Her back arched of its own accord even as her nails dug mercilessly into his skin. A throaty rumble escaped him.

"Ah, _fuck_." One of the other males in the room hissed with clear lust.

Bella's eyes opened sluggishly to stare up at Jared. He looked like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. His tongue darted out to lick his lips. To her it appeared as if he was trying to get every last ounce of her off of his lips. She might have done the same if she didn't feel like she was drugged half out of her mind.

"At least now we know how to calm her down if she gets fired up." Paul snickered before plucking her up off of her feet and into his steady arms. It took a belated few seconds for her arms to raise and link behind his neck for added support. "You okay, sugar?"

"Uh-mmm?" She didn't know if it was supposed to come out as a word or not. All she knew was that the befuddled hum had them all chuckling at her expense.

"That was one of the sexiest things I've ever seen. How 'bout we go for round two with me?" She felt her butt make contact with the bench seat of her truck, though she really wasn't aware of having even left the house.

"Huh?"

Her eyes slowly focused on Paul's face. The male was smoldering. If she looked down she could almost guarantee that she'd see the large erection all of them sported.

His hands cupped her cheeks delicately as he bared his eyes into hers. They were so dark. So sinfully, deliciously dark.

"Come on, Bella. Snap out of it." His fingertips rapped a few times on her temples. The slight, thumping pressure triggered her brain to start re-firing all of its proper synapses. Almost immediately afterwards her eyes narrowed on him.

"Don't do that!" She pushed his shoulders away and snarled at the males standing behind him. Jared was there, still looking smug. Was it her imagination or were his eyes glowing? "You jerk! You had no right to do that. You shouldn't have kissed me!"

The feral grin that erupted on his face had her scooting back on the seat worriedly.

"Oh yes I should have, Isabella. And I plan to do it again. And again. And again." This time Bella was certain that his eyes _did_ glow. "All until you can't take it anymore and are begging for something so much more satisfying."

Her jaw dropped several times as she attempted to think of something to say only to dismiss it. They were all openly ogling her and she found her indignation rising at their cockiness. Her lips pursed tightly together as she took her one chance and thrust the heel of her foot into Paul's shoulder, effectively taking him off guard, and kicked him clear of the doorway. Before slamming the door shut she shouted out "assholes!" and allowed her body to slam back rigidly into the well-worn seats of her truck.

Booming laughter reverberated throughout the cab of the truck as the men all took off for the woods, shedding their clothing as they went.

"You really are the most precious thing when you pout." She whirled where she say to all but snap her jaws at Jacob. The toady didn't even flinch as he set himself comfortably behind the wheel of her truck. "Really, Bella, this ride will be more enjoyable if you calm down."

"No." She barked out, entirely peevish over their lustful actions and how she responded to them. Her arms crossed heavily over her chest as if acting as a shield or were holding her annoyance in. "He can't…you all can't just do that to me."

"And why not?" The engine roared loudly to life. Jacob's ears twitched backwards in discomfort.

"It's not right. Not _now_ at least." Her gaze darted out the window as Jake pulled out of the dirt and mud driveway. _They should put stone down to pack it in so no one cars will get stuck_, she thought absently.

"Why?"

"Damn it, Jacob!" Her hands clenched beside her ribcage. "Edward only just left less than a week ago. I loved him. You may not like it, but you have to accept the fact that he was a big part of my life before he left. Even though he's gone and it's over between us I still feel like I'm betraying something that we had."

"You're not betraying anyone, honey." His tone was soft, gentle as if speaking to a frightened animal. "That leech left. You're right that I don't even remotely like the idea of you having cared for him, that you still do, but I can't change the fact that your feelings are your own. I can't make you hate him simply because I don't care for his kind.

"But, Bella, they _left_. You and Edward are not together anymore. If you find companionship in someone else there is nothing wrong with that. You were never meant to be alone, honey. That would be cruel and unfair for any being to be destined to a life alone." His hand settled onto her upper thigh and squeezed comfortingly.

"We're your mates, Bella. While this isn't something that any of us expected and we may bicker a bit, I wouldn't change it for the world. They are like brothers to me and I was always attracted to you for both your outward beauty and your personality. To a lesser degree you feel the same pull for us that we feel for you and it's not wrong to follow your gut feeling. We're going to be there for you through the good and bad…and if you tell us to slow down we will."

His hand grew taut against her leg. "Jared was right, though, Bella. You're ours now and we're not going to let you go."

Bella refused to answer in any way, so she simply stared out the side window. Jacob's heated, heavy hand stayed station on her thigh, but she didn't push it away. She needed to choose her battles carefully and it would be plain stupid to fight over him doing something that calmed them both down. He needed to touch her and she needed the physical comfort. It was as simple as that.

Her attention was divided between her reflection in the glass and the scenery moving past, but not entirely. Inwardly she was trying to figure out how she was going to handle this whole wacked-out situation as she had been trying to do since the guys revealed their second nature to her along with the mating thing.

She was terrified of what Charlie would think of it all. He wasn't a devoutly religious man by any means, but he still had certain morals and codes that he lived by. She didn't think that there was any way he'd accept the fact that seven men were after her…at the same time and for keeps. Being the Chief of Police he also had a reputation to uphold, which also mean that _she_ had one to uphold as well. If he had a wayward daughter then his judgment would be frowned upon. After all, who would trust the safety of the town to a man that couldn't even control his own daughter? Her father's job could be at stake because of her possible actions in the future.

She didn't want that to be on her head.

That line of thought made her wonder, as well, what the rest of the town would say if the word ever got out about her and her seven Native men. She knew that deep down some people, mainly the women, would have fantasies of such a thing happening to them, but fantasies were separate from reality. Polyamorous relationships simply didn't exist in proper societies. If they went through with a relationship like the guys were proposing then they could easily be ostracized. They could even be forced to move from their homes, which was something she never wanted to happen.

Bella had little doubt that she could survive on her own elsewhere in the world. She'd travelled so much with her mother that she'd grown used to the feeling of having no permanent roots anywhere. Until she'd come back to Forks she hadn't lived in one place more than six months at a time. The guys, however, were raised in La Push with certain family values. She knew that they'd want to have their family/families where they'd grown up and where they were safest. Besides bringing trouble down on her own head, most likely opening the door to any range of derogatory names to be shot at her, she'd be putting the guys into a jam that they neither needed nor deserved.

She'd all but given herself an aneurism pondering this whole mess since the guys had faced her about it, or more appropriately had been forced to tell her about it, and the problem wasn't solving itself. In fact, there weren't even any _hints_ at how to come to a conclusion.

_I'm hot for them_. She told herself gruffly. _There's no doubting that. I'd screw them all up and down the walls several times over before my body died from the exertion if I could, but I also like them as people. They're good people. A little demanding and insufferable, but overall good guys. And I can't in good conscience be selfish by worrying about my desires over their happiness. They're my friends and they deserve a stable home and respect for what they do for their tribe even if the tribe is unaware of their protection_.

With a deep sigh she settled herself for waiting and seeing how things played out. She couldn't make a decision, be it good or bad, right now.

_To quote Scarlet O'Hara, 'I'll think about it tomorrow.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy, y'all. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm demoting this story to update at one chapter ever four to six (4-6) weeks. I work three jobs and am busy outside of that, so I'm not going to be able to keep up a quick posting schedule. While this story is finished, I just simply don't have the time in the day to check it over for problems and post frequently.

Okay, while this story is finished (I should use that term lightly it seems), I do a lot more work on each chapter before I ever post it. The base of each chapter I have saved to my computer in an entire 'base-book' as I like to call it. Then I have a 'corrected-book', which is the one that this site is showing you in chapters/installments. Truthfully I'm not just going into each chapter and correcting the errors I find (there would be **NO** mistakes if I did that). I'm actually re-writing each chapter based on the 'base-book' into the 'corrected-book'. Sometimes the plot of each chapter gets changed around and sometimes scenes are just added or deleted. It's like I'm actually writing the story from scratch even though I'm not. Actually, think of it like my 'base-book' is the _**Cliff Notes**_ version of _'The Pack Imperative'_ and I'm writing the real story (with depth and detail) on top of that.

Anyway, I hope y'all like the chapter. It's a 'calm' one as far as they go, but it was needed. As always, feel free to review (I'd appreciate them) and keep your language clean for my other readers. Point out any mistakes or problems you have if you so desire and have a pleasant day/night whenever you read this.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	9. Chapter 9: The Collective

**Chapter Nine: The Collective**

Jacob parked his old truck, now Bella's, into her driveway as close to the house as he sensibly could. He stayed her with the hand cupping her thigh when she moved to exit the truck. She remained still, but cocked one neatly trimmed eyebrow at him. Belatedly he noticed that her eyebrows were perfectly shaped, neither fat nor scrawny and penciled in like so many other females he'd known.

"Stay in here where it's warm, honey. I'll take your bags in and turn up the thermostat." Her scowl deepened on her pretty face.

"I'm not going to break, Jacob." She snatched her leg away from him, though he knew that she knew he'd allowed her to do it. He was trying his best not to make her feel trapped, though he desperately wanted to tug her fragile body into the protection of his side and never let her go.

_Damn wolf_.

She turned completely away from him then and thrust the door open with as much vigor as she'd used to shut it in Paul's and the others' faces. The door squeaked and groaned depressingly. He definitely needed to fix her truck. He'd feel even better if she'd permit him to just buy her a new car altogether, but he doubted that she'd go for that idea. She was an independent and strong female. She wanted to do things for herself.

As much as it thrilled the man in him to have some depth of feeling for such a feisty, headstrong woman, the wolf desired submission and dependency. It wanted its mate to rely on him as much as it relied on her. Whatever desire floated around in that pretty little head of hers the wolf wanted to know about and make that desire into a reality. The wolf's future depended entirely upon the contentment and well-being if its mate.

_Double damn_.

He hurried out of the truck after her, the ever faithful dog, stole her bags up into his hands, and allowed her to lead him into the house. At the front door she crouched down low and pulled a semi-loose floorboard from the porch. Underneath she snatched the hidden key up. He cocked a brow. He hadn't known that key was there.

"No one else besides Charlie knows where we keep the Hide-a-Key, so if I get my throat slashed during the night I'm coming back to haunt you." She warned him with only a touch of joking to her tone. A low growl emerged from his throat instinctively at the thought of even a paper-cut marring her silky smooth flesh.

"Easy, Rover." She shushed him with a smirk thrown over her shoulder as she unlocked the front door. "I'm not planning on kicking the bucket anytime soon."

She waved him in as she placed the key back into its hiding spot and set the board back down into its prior position. He knew that if he inspected it closely the loose board would only look to be just that…a loose board that just needed to be nailed down a little better. Whether it was Charlie's or Bella's idea was unknown. All he knew was that it was a genius location.

He kept ahold of her bags, determined to take them to her room so she wouldn't strain herself, and scented the air. A hearty chuckle escaped him when he smelled burning toast. As Bella shut the door behind her he saw her pert nose crinkle. She'd caught the smell, too.

"I _really_ should give Dad some cooking lessons. Actually, if I could just teach him to use that toaster it would do wonders for him." Bella shook her head and flipped the lock. He approved. He wouldn't tolerate anyone sneaking up on his mate while she was sleeping and more vulnerable.

"Teach my Dad while you're at it. They can't even cook the fish they catch."

"Hopeless." Bella muttered. When she attempted to take her bags Jake pulled them out of her reach. She pursed her lips at him.

"Just tell me where you want them and I'll take them there. I want you to go sit down." He was amused when she crossed her miniscule arms over her chest, coincidently pushing her breasts out to him as if in offering, and spread her feet into an aggressive/defensive stance. Her pale brown eyes grew dark even as the golden flecks seemed to spark with poorly suppressed agitation. If he was honest with himself he quite enjoyed her temper. It was a site better than depression, which he'd been absurdly aware of her being in while they were in the truck.

"I can take them up to my room on my own Jacob." He gave her his best shit-eating grin when she unwittingly gave up the location of where she wanted her things. Her shrill shout of his name as he stomped up the stairs had him outright laughing.

The "fucking asshole" muttered under her breath as he reached the top nearly had him tumbling back down them with mirth.

He set her duffel bag on the foot of her bed where she could easily unpack it without having to bend over before entering the bathroom she shared with Charlie. He replaced everything he'd packed for her earlier in the week from the backpack. Once he was certain that everything was in its place he threw the empty bag onto the floor of her closet.

The smell of onions had him marching back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Bella stood in front of the counter where a butcher's block sat poised and ready. Her jean-clad legs swayed gently to a tune he could not hear. His eyes trained onto her bountiful rear end. He damn near found himself drooling at the thought of feeling the weight of them in his cupped hands. Whether she would be mounted on his cock or not was still up for debate.

He shook his head with a growl. He almost wished that he could have had a subservient, unattractive mate. Everything would have been a whole lot easier. He wouldn't be constantly distracted, always thinking of the next way to make her his, of ways to make her smile at him. He wouldn't be feeling so pussy-whipped for wanting to bow at her dainty little feet for simply gracing him with her presence.

And yet he couldn't help but think that he was probably the luckiest sonofabitch this side of the continent, possibly even the world. He'd known Bella before shifting. He'd been good friends with her because of her kind heart, her openness, her accepting nature, and her spirit. It wasn't as if he was ignorant of her innate beauty, either. She wasn't perfect by today's standards, but she _was_ perfect for _him_. Any flaw she had could only enhance her beauty to him. She really was his own personal Goddess and whether he wanted to admit or not he'd end up worshipping her for the rest of their lives together once the man fell in step beside his wolf.

If he really thought about it he'd admit that he was already half in love with the woman-child standing before him.

_And I can't even damn my wolf for this one because it's entirely _me_ that's falling for her. Well shit_.

"I thought I told you to go sit down, honey." The only sign that he'd surprised her was the slight twitch in her right arm and the jerk in both of her shoulders.

"And I believe that I never agreed to go sit down." She shot him a quick, huffy look over her shoulder before returning her attention to the counter.

"Need any help?" He tried to coax her away from the counter with his voice, but she only lifted her left hand and waved it dismissively at him. He sighed. "Bella, you really should…"

"I'm _fine_, Jake." She turned fully to face him. Her face was as set as he'd ever seen it. She wasn't going to back down without him using physical force and he really didn't want to do such a thing over something so trivial. She _was_ doing much better, his nose had confirmed that much, and to try and control her when she had every right to be insistent on doing things on her own would be downright stupid. He'd be a good boy this time and allow her to do as she wished.

He promised himself that he'd only ever step in if she was being entirely ignorant of her own health. There would be no arguing for her if that was the case.

"Will you please just sit down? I doubt you're going anywhere until Charlie gets home to look after me properly," she sounded peevish about that, but he wouldn't deny that she was right, "so either go outside and get wolfie or get comfortable in here. It's your call."

Jake chuckled. "Now how could I refuse the opportunity to ogle my pretty honey-doll while she cooks?"

"Honey-doll? You never struck me as a Southern gentleman, Jake." She quipped as he claimed one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"I'm not, but I always liked the endearment. Beccy and Rach dragged me along once when I was ten to go see some chick flick. The guy wearing assless chaps kept calling the girl he was chasing after honey-doll. The name kind of stuck in my head." Bella's soft, airy chuckle brought a full smile to his lips. The sound was so sweet to his ears.

"Assless chaps, huh? Haven't seen those since Phoenix on Halloween. They hold the same attraction to me that speedos do…absolutely none."

"Good to know." His laugh bubbled easily through his chest. "I don't think any of the pack wears speedos. Half the time we don't even bother with trunks. We just wear our cut-offs when we go cliff-diving or go without."

A deep throated growl, one that probably wouldn't have been audible to human ears, rumbled in his chest when the sharp spike of her heady arousal hit his nose. Looking at her from behind he could see that her back was tensed, but her legs were beginning to shake. She liked the idea of them being naked to her eyes. Well, her body did. That was good to know. He'd known that their attraction wasn't one-sided, but the scent of her juices collecting certainly made any possible argument against that fact moot.

Deciding to spare her any of the embarrassment he knew she'd feel later for her aroused thoughts he sniffed at the air again. Beneath her cloying scent was the savory smell of whatever it was she was cooking. There was onion, garlic, sausage, and several other ingredients that had scents that were less potent.

"What are you making?"

"Cajun chicken and sausage gumbo. It's one of my father's favorites besides halibut steaks." She glanced back at him with a near-smirk on her precious face. "I learned to make a lot of things moving around so much. I'm actually quite proud of my cooking capabilities."

"I would hope so." He rubbed his stomach with a haughty look on his face. "I always got filled up when Charlie would come to the Rez and give me and Dad leftovers from whatever you made. The guys and me sure appreciated the peach cobbler just after your birthday."

"Thanks for the compliment." She chuckled softly.

"Thanks for the good food."

"You all would eat straight out of a garbage can!" Her shoulders shook with mirth. "I doubt any of you even really tasted what you ate before it slid down your throat. Mastication is a better word for what you do to your food."

He shrugged his own wider shoulders even though he knew that she couldn't see it. "We're growing boys."

"If you grow any bigger you'll pop."

Jacob contented himself with watching Bella's smooth, obviously practiced hand as she puttered around the kitchen getting the gumbo ready. At one point she even began to slip into a hum of peace before cutting herself off abruptly in recalling that she was not alone. He knew he was the cause for her sudden silence because the rhythmic, enchanting melody only cut off when she happened to turn to the side just enough to catch sight of him in her peripheral vision. Her cheeks flushed adorably before she retreated back to the relative safety of the counter.

His head cocked to the side at her obvious embarrassment. Why was she embarrassed?

"Why did you drop me off instead of Seth? Seth said he was going to do it." Distraction. She was trying to distract him. He was curious, but he'd let her avoid whatever it was she didn't want him to know or talk about.

"There's a couple reasons for that, actually." Jake tipped back in the chair, crossed his legs at the ankles, and braced his heels against the floor to make the chair teeter on its two back legs.

"Put that chair down, Jacob Black," Bella hissed, whirling around to face him with a fairly large knife brandished in her delicate hand. Instantly he snapped his legs apart and let the chair land back on all fours. He almost missed the slight smirk on her lips as she turned back around to face the counter. "Good boy. Now, what are the reasons?"

_Now she's patronizing me_, he thought glumly. _And here I am obeying her like a faithful dog. Damn it. I want my balls back_. "For one, even though you've spent a fair amount of time with the others you're not comfortable enough with them…_yet_. You're still more willing to open up to me than you are to them right now." He ignored how smug the human part of him was with that. The wolf wanted her to desire them all, but the man in him still thought that Bella should be only his…or at least primarily his.

"For another, Charlie is a bit more comfortable with me than he is with Seth. My dad and yours hang out more than Charlie does with Harry. I'd really rather not have one of my pack brother's getting their head blown off by a protective father. That's one injury that we're _not_ going to heal from."

"He wouldn't do that." Bella giggled joyfully. He frowned. She acted as if she was all for her father shooting at them 'til Kingdom Come. "He'd aim for your testicles first. I'm sure if you regained your coordination immediately after that first shot you'd be able to run away." Yeah, she was siding with her father.

He couldn't have that, though. Nope, not at all.

He stood fluidly, no sound whatsoever being made as he padded his way up behind her. He snaked his left hand around her waist while the other snatched the knife out of her right hand. It was for her own safety and his. He didn't want her cutting herself in fright and he didn't want to have to pull the knife out of his side because she decided to get violent with him. He would heal, but it would still hurt like a bitch.

Bella gasped prettily when his arm solidified around her waist. He set the knife down out of her reach once she'd released it, accidently of course, and then set his right hand onto the left side of her neck. She was caged in his arms. Safe, protected, and warm. He wanted her like this always.

"You wouldn't let him do that to me, would ya, Bells?" He dropped his head down to nuzzle the right side of her neck. Her pulse thundered at the vein there. Her scent amplified with her spike of adrenalin and slight arousal. He knew that her neck was a major erogenous zone with her.

Unable to resist he allowed his tongue to lave across the creamy smooth skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulders. She tasted exactly as she smelled…like citrus, spice, and warmth. It was a flavor that he knew he'd crave until his dying day. The wolf in him purred in serenity at that thought.

Bella shuddered in his arms.

"Would you, Bella? Would you let Charlie shoot me or any of the others?" His words rumbled through his chest and into her tiny frame. Bella whimpered when his teeth grazed against her flesh. "Would you take any joy in seeing us in that kind of pain?"

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><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

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><p>"My Bella." He murmured, almost purred.<p>

"I'm such a bad person." She spoke so gently he almost didn't hear her. His ears twitched and his brows knitted together in frustration.

"No, Bella, you aren't a bad person." He kissed her neck again. "It's not wrong to have sexual desires. It's a part of being a living thing and with seven mates it's not really a surprise. It's good that you want us all, that you can respond to us all, honey. Just because we have something different than other people doesn't make it wrong."

Jacob was just about to start sucking on the mark he'd left on her neck once more when his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He snarled in frustration, but answered it anyway, all the while keeping his left arm wrapped around his mate's tiny waist.

"What?" He snapped rudely. Whoever was on the phone had little importance in comparison to his Bella at the present moment.

"Get back to the Reservation." Sam was growling as well. "Quil's running to watch her now. We've got a problem."

"And that would be?" He glanced down at Bella, who was still in a bit of a euphoric haze, before drawing his attention back to the phone.

"We all came."

Jacob, Prime Alpha of the Quileute pack, froze at that. Unconsciously he found his left hand massaging Bella's side in a comforting gesture. Her head lolled back onto his chest in contentment. He only wished he could be as calm as he was making her.

"We need to have a meeting on why this is happening. It's happened before and if it's happened again it makes sense that it'll keep happening." Sam's tone was one of frustration and exhaustion. He could imagine his Beta running his fist through his hair. He knew that the other male wasn't trying to take over the pack, but at the moment he had a firmer grasp, no matter how slight that grasp was, on the situation at hand. Jacob would let him make orders until he was back in the loop and had all the details.

With a sigh he placed a chaste kiss on Bella's scalp.

"Give me ten." With that he snapped the phone shut and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Bella, honey." He turned her slowly, gently in his arms. He was inordinately pleased by the still slightly dazed look in her eyes. Her irises were still huge. "I'm going to have to go, but we'll talk later, okay? Quil's coming to watch the house."

"Is somethin' wrong?" She half-slurred. He grinned.

"No, honey. The guys and I just have to have a talk." He turned her back towards the counter before playfully smacking her rump. He was satisfied when she yipped, snapped her hands over her posterior, and glared back at him over her shoulder. He loved her fire and decided to stoke it a little while he was gone. "Now be a good girl and finish your gumbo."

"Don't tell me what to do, Jacob." She hissed, looking for her knife to wield against him. He rumbled with laughter as she found it and he saw the excited gleam in her eye.

"I wouldn't dream of it, honey." Faster than she could counter he grasped the wrist that was attached to the hand with the knife and banded his other arm around her back to tug her flush against his chest. She blew out a flustered breath. Smoothly and swiftly he pecked her almost brotherly on the lips before dashing away. From the doorway he was awarded with a disgruntled yell.

"Asshole!"

"No, honey, I'm not an asshole. I'm your alpha. Be a good girl while I'm gone."

The sound of plastic thumping against the door he closed behind him signaled that his departing words weren't welcome. The added roar/screech of ire was only icing on the cake.

He was still chuckling by the time he'd shifted into his wolfen form to make the relatively short run back to La Push.

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><p>Seth kept his head buried under his paws as the others raged around him. He could argue with them and against them, but it would be pointless. They'd just bite each other's heads off with the same result to be shown…<p>

Isabella Marie Swan, mate to the seven wolves of the La Push pack, had the ability to make them all come simultaneously with her and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

Their minds roared within his own like some sick chorus. They were all confused and reluctant to admit the truth to themselves. They were even feeling a twinge of embarrassment for having shared something so intimate with each other…in a way, anyway. They were all bold, tough-as-nails alpha males, secure in their heterosexuality, but there was just something about accidently causing another male to cum that unnerved them.

He whimpered faintly into the ground and his paws at the horrid reminder of the first time Bella had unknowingly, or so he hoped, got all their rocks off. He'd been patrolling when he'd found himself with a beyond embarrassing boner…for no reason at all. He'd be perpetually hard whenever he thought of the little mate he'd just been given, but he hadn't been thinking of her at that very moment to induce the raging hard-on. All he'd known, all he'd been able to feel, once that split-second erection came was that he _needed_ to get back to Bella.

The second time around hadn't been much better. He'd been playing against Reggie Mansfield, a current leader on the poker Champs board, on his computer since they'd scheduled the poker game earlier on in the month when his cock had inflated in a matter of second and to painful proportions. His darling mate's face popped into his head as he rode her wave of ecstasy until he, too, had reached completion. He'd barely had the frame of mind when the feeling came to jerk his pants off to avoid making a nasty mess in them for a second time.

As soon as the waves of pleasure tapered off he's jerked his pants back up, forfeited to Reggie promising a re-match at a later date, and called his Beta since the Alpha was _indisposed_.

So here he lay, listening in on his pack's bitching and howling as they attempted to comprehend the situation.

As far as he was concerned, Sam had hit the nail on the head when they'd first had this problem. Somehow the pale beauty that was their mate was able to trigger all of her mates' libidos when she herself was on the cusp of sexual achievement. He didn't bother to jump into the fray since nothing they said or did now would make a difference. The simple fact of the matter was that if Bella came, they came.

What he thought was more important was not arguing over the base of the matter but trying to figure out a way to work with it or around it.

_What?_ The thought was directed straight towards him from the silvery wolf closest to him. Paul's yellowed eyes were still sparking with animosity.

_Arguing isn't going to help or change anything._ He informed the older wolf, pulling his muzzle back out from under his paws to rest it on top of them instead. His hairy brow ridge lifted in a human-like gesture. _None of us really knows how mating and imprinting works as I see it and all we can do is take things as they come at us. None of us is going to stop allowing or giving Bella pleasure so all we can do is try and work around the…uh, side effects._

_This is bullshit._ Jared growled, his bulky body slamming loudly onto the damp earth beneath him. The underside of his muzzle cracked loudly against the ground, but Seth felt no hint of pain from the other wolf. They were built to withstand a lot of punishment. A short-fall belly-flop to the ground was nothing.

_You think any of us like this any better?_ Seth kicked out his rear left leg to gouge his claws into the other's haunches. Jared instantly snarled and snapped at his retreating foot. _This means less privacy, dickwad. We already share a collective mind in this form and a mate in and out of wolf form. Now we'll all know whenever the other is screwing Bella's brains out. That's not exactly a turn-on for me, either._

_Oh shut up, pup!_ Embry gave in to the urge to scratch behind his ear like a dog, his foot thumping madly.

_I'm not a pup!_ He snarled offended. His hackles were threatening to rise.

He hated it when he was referred to as 'the pup' because he was the youngest in age of any of them. He'd phased before Jacob, hadn't he? Didn't that count for anything? He wasn't an idiot, either. He deserved a Hell of a lot more respect than he got from them.

_Enough_. Jacob jerked his body between them, his russet canine form larger than any of theirs just as his human form was. Prime Alpha genes definitely gave him the edge.

_Damn that gumbo smells good_. Quil's absentminded thought reached them all…along with the impression of his rumbling stomach and a delicious, mouth-watering scent trickling up his nasal passages.

_Concentrate you moron_. Embry snapped his head in the direction that the Swan home resided as if he even had a chance of sinking his fangs into the grey and black spotted wolf's neck.

_Hey, I'm just watching over our mate. Can I help it that her food smells so good and I'm starving_. He groaned internally, the sound mostly likely echoing as a growl out of his physical body. _Oh Hell, she's making brownies, too. Screw it. After my turn here I'm hunting_.

While the human in him wrinkled his nose at the images of stalking down an elk or bear and then feeding off of its body like the animals they were the wolf was salivating. After phasing for the first time he'd been unable to survive off of a 'human' diet. He'd practically eaten his parents out of house and home when he was there and even then he was rarely full. He _had_ to hunt. He had the horrendous urge to shift at least once a week just as they all did and let his mind go. He'd be the wolf he was deep down.

And once he'd caught his prey he'd devour it without remorse.

He'd slipped back into cognizant thought from one of his hunts to discover that he barely left even the bones behind of whatever animal it was that he'd taken down.

_Back on track, gentlemen_. Jacob snarled, nudging a few of them out of Seth's and Quil's mental drop into all things primal and bloody by hitting his shoulders into their sides. Paul actually had to pull his tongue back into his mouth from where it's dropped off to the side in bliss.

_Bella's transmitting_. Sam reiterated from the first time he'd said it, his four paws pacing agitatedly in the damp grass. _This isn't recorded by the ancestors just like nothing else that's important seems to be. So that leaves the question on, if this _is_ all common in mating, how do we learn to live with it? Obviously it's going to complicate things when some of us are with Bella and others are in our everyday jobs_.

Seth didn't see too much of a problem in his own field of work since he played competitive poker online and sometimes in the flesh. He'd had a knack for cards since he was a little kid and since he'd hit eighteen he'd hit what his father called 'the ultimate lucky streak'. He preferred to think of it as skill. Sam and Paul both worked from 'home' doing carvings and paintings respectively. When Embry wasn't running the grocery store on the Rez he wrote adventure novels and he rarely had to go into the store since most of his bookwork and management requirements were overseen at home. The only ones with regular jobs outside of the home were Jacob who owns the garage, Jared who works at the lumber yard for the physical exertion, and Quil who patronizes and works at the library as well as owning the attached small book store.

Jacob, Jared, and Quil were going to have the worst of their problems in those regards.

They all fired off thoughts to one another on how they could possibly deal with Bella's 'transmitting', shooting down most of the suggestions immediately. It was almost an hour later when they all felt a backwash of lust from Quil.

Looking through Quil's mind's eye he could see Bella undoing her long, beautiful hair from the braid she'd had it in from where she sat at the small table in her kitchen. He felt mesmerized as she ran her slender, long fingers through the lush cascade falling down over her back and shoulders. His member began to grow with want as he remembered her spicy, citrus scent even as Quil inhaled it.

Seth growled and forcefully shook his thick head. He didn't think he'd ever get used to sharing a pack mind entirely. It was one thing to have your own little kinks and turn-ons, but it was another to share someone else's vicariously.

Jake was an ass man. Sam drooled over a woman's legs. He personally enjoyed the slender curve of a woman's back.

Quil got a hard-on from long, silky smooth hair.

_Okay, I can't take this anymore_. Embry shook his head clear before scraping a claw down the front of his muzzle agitatedly. Seth could feel his arousal as well as his own. _I'm going to go on patrol around the Rez. I need to work off some steam_.

They watched him go silently. He, too, needed to work out his frustrations although he had a feeling he'd be doing it in a private room in human form. Embry was just about as good as Paul and Jacob were at running his rocks off, but he didn't have the same skill. He blamed it on his 'young' age. He was closer to still being a horny teenager than they were even if he insisted that he wasn't a pup.

_Spirits, just phase out already_. Jacob groused, shifting back into his two-legged form. His meaty fingers rubbed distractedly behind his head as he walked back towards the Black house. "Worst pack meeting ever. Remind me to kick Quil's ass for this."

"Like any of the rest of us would have had an easier time looking at her without getting hard enough to pound steel!" Sam barked, jerking his cut-offs on in one swoop.

"We'll talk tomorrow at breakfast. Bella will be asleep still and hopefully whoever has patrol then won't be as tempted." The Prime grunted, snatching his own bottoms off of a low hanging branch. Seth ignored the look he shot him when his beastial form let out a remarkable likeness of a snort.

_I'm going to Second Beach_. He informed those that were still phased curtly before bounding off.

He needed to be alone where no one would disturb him.

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><p>Seth leaned back into the sands and stared up at the waning daylight. The cool sea breeze caressed his bare skin as he basked in what was left of the day.<p>

He'd been on the beach since the impromptu meeting. He needed the space and time away from everyone. He loved his pack brothers, he really did, but sometimes he just had to get away from them. To them he was still the kid…the pup. It didn't matter that he'd aged to full maturity with his first phase, that he was an Alpha male, or that he too had found his mate in Bella Swan. He resolved himself to the depressing fact that besides Bella he'd always be the youngest of the Pack.

He closed his eyes serenely at the mere mention of his gloriously delicate mate.

Over the short amount of time she'd been secluded in the Black home he'd come to care for her a great deal more than he would have ever thought possible. The wolf in him wanted her, knew that she was it for him, but he hadn't expected the man in him to fall so quickly under her spell.

He wasn't going to admit it to the others since he didn't really want to admit it to himself, but he'd actually fallen in love with Isabella Swan.

He smiled softly when he remembered back to what had triggered the cursed emotion to flare up in the pits of his stomach and wrap completely around his heart…

He had been the only one in the house with Bella not even a full day ago. She had been snuggled between his splayed legs, her blanket wrapped just as securely around her as any other day, and playing with his fingers as if she found them to be the most fascinating things in the world. He'd seen her do it with the others, too. She'd randomly grab a hand or foot and massage her slight fingers into the callouses, bones, and muscles with an awed look on her face. She'd been flexing and toying with his hand for going on an hour and a half when something on the television finally caught her attention.

"Oh! I can't believe this is on TV!" She'd cheered, tugging his hand between her breasts absently as she gasped in disbelief. He smiled down at the top of her head at her child-like wonder.

His eyes had taken in the program and laughed. It seemed that Broadway was doing a rare showing of all their biggest musicals on one of the upper channels. '_Beauty and the Beast_' starring Susan Egan and Terrence Mann was just rounding up its introduction. During one of his patrol's he and the others had found out from Sam that she'd always desired to watch the show live, but had never gotten the chance.

"What do you like so much about this story, baby?" He queried, giving a half-assed attempt to free his hand from her clutches. She didn't seem to remember that she still had possession of his appendage at all.

"It's just so sweet! I've read every version and watched every program or movie on '_Beauty and the Beast_'. Disney made the Beast a violent man when he really wasn't, you know. He was so lonely. He called himself her devoted servant and would do anything to make Belle happy if she'd just stay with him and help him hold onto the hope that she could see past his face. He nearly died because when he let her go to see her sick father she didn't return to his side. He was weak and sick without her, but he loved her so much that he'd let her go even if it cost him his life in the end."

The tears that had welled in her eyes had startled him. His half-hearted attempts to get his hands back morphed into full-frontal panic to dry her tears away. Even when her fingers remained clutched to his right hand he hurriedly wiped the salty streaks off of her rosy cheeks.

"Don't cry, baby. It bothers me to see you cry."

"I'm sorry." She'd choked out, only then moving her own hands to rub the moisture away. "I don't know why I get as emotional as I do whenever I think about this story. I swear that I cry every time the Beast is dying and Belle admits she loves him even though I know it's coming."

"Just…Baby, please don't cry." He rubbed his chin into her scalp and reveled in the delectable scent that rose from her fragrant locks. "Even if it's in happiness I don't think I could ever stand to see you cry."

She had turned her head up to look at him then and smiled softly. A small rim of moisture sat in her sepia colored eyes. Looking down at the purity and beauty on her face he felt his stomach flip uncomfortably. How had he gotten so lucky to be awarded with her as his imprint and mate?

"You're such a sweetheart, Seth." She maneuvered her lower half so that she could arhc herself upwards enough to kiss the underside of his jaw. His wolf erupted into a contented purr at the show of affection and accidently-shown submission. His arms constricted around her in a tight embrace.

When she'd turned her attention back to the television and play he'd been hypnotized by the woman in his arms. It wasn't until over half an hour later that he'd been able to tear his gaze away from her to watch the play while she reclaimed his hand to play with it.

He didn't even notice when he started to sing along with Terrence Mann's lines in '_Something There_'. His words jarred off raggedly when he felt Bella's little hand cupping his cheek. His eyes widened as she stared up at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"I – I, uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry if I…" Her warm fingertips pressing over his lips had silence his nervous apologies. Her jaw hung open adorably as an emotion overtook her eyes.

He saw adoration in the look she was giving him.

It made him blush.

"You have a beautiful voice." She whispered, wonder and enjoyment clear in her tone.

"T-thank you." He stuttered.

"Will you," she began tentatively, her pointer finger tracing the bow of his bottom lip, "will you sing for me?"

"I don't know, Bella." He hushed, his head dropping a little in embarrassment. "I don't, uh, sing much."

"Why?" She sounded scandalized.

"It's not normally something a guy does unless he's aiming to be made fun of." He tried explaining. Bella's finger stilled and her whole body stiffened. The scent of her displeasure had been sharp in his nose.

"That's not right." She growled angrily. She pulled her hand away from his face fully. He had no choice but to meet her steadfast, proud look head-on. The way she was staring him down made his heart flutter. "You have a gift. No one should chastise you for doing something that you're obviously passionate in and are very good at. It's a gift, damn it, and I think it's beautiful."

With that she'd plunked herself down between his legs once more, but refused to retake his hand.

In her ire he'd felt his heart swell out of his chest to completely encompass her and only her. His breath hitched almost painfully as he wrapped his arms back around her stiff frame to cuddle her closely into the protective shelter that was his body. In moments she'd sagged into him and sighed.

"Thank you." He'd murmured, kissing the softness of her scalp and hair.

They'd finished watching the play with him occasionally humming along to the beat, delighted when Bella had nuzzled her head into his chest with contentment. He'd never had someone, anyone, outwardly support him when it came to his singing. It wasn't manly. It wasn't something most straight men would do to a lot of closed-minded people. It had broken open any barriers he'd had between them to know that she could accept this about him even when his brothers occasionally questioned his singing.

Laying on the sands now he couldn't help but let his feelings for his new mate wash over him to the fullest extent. He knew that it'd take the others a lot longer to recognize their love for her for what it was worth, but just knowing that _he_ loved her first was enough.

He smirked, thinking that for once that his age came in handy.

The others weren't old, but they were still old enough to have started believing that 'young' and 'new' love was fleeting and un-lasting

Once they figured out that love was love and that Bella was the most deserving of that love he was going to rub it in their faces for the rest of eternity that he'd figured it out first.

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy. Here's the next chapter. Hope y'all enjoy it. I just had a move twenty hours away from where I used to live to work a full-time job with benefits to save me the grief of working three part-times and killing myself doing it. I'm still getting settled in in my new home, but I'm hoping things will work out.

Anyway, I wanted to ask that; PLEASE, IF YOU ASK ME A QUESTION MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT ON FANFICTION SO THAT I CAN RESPOND TO YOU! I prefer to private-message answers to questions to keep from spoiling anything for my other readers, especially when they didn't have the nerve to ask me themselves, and so that I can speak freely and personally with them.

Also, to address **'Curious'**, as I have informed 'Greenfairyrose' and 'neverforgetu' as well as my other readers in my notes on the previous chapter, this story may be technically 'done', but its original form is not publishable. The version that everyone sees is significantly more detailed, edited, and even changed-up in 'chapter plot' than the one saved on my computer. The original/base-book of 'The Pack Imperative' is essentially my Cliff Notes version of what you all see and I do NOT want that out in the public. I do a _lot_ of additional work on the chapters that I post and with my schedule as it was I couldn't keep up with a steady updating schedule so close together.

If this bothers anyone, then I ask that you to decide if you _can_ wait and if you _want_ to wait to read the new chapters when they get posted because for right now my updating schedule will be remaining between the 4 and 6 week range.

And **'Curious'**, if you are reading this, I take no offense…so I hope you don't take offense to me saying that if this story didn't mean anything to me then I wouldn't update at all. My 'priorities' are my health and overall living conditions outside of FanFiction, but you can guarantee that I DO care for this story.

Anyway, for all others, review at your leisure. I appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, that I receive. As always I ask that you don't cuss-out any of my other readers or myself. You're noticed better if you keep a level head. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	10. Chapter 10: Inner Turmoil

***** Indicates that there is an attatched link on my profile for photos. Anytime you see a ***** after something that means that I have an image available for you in relation to this story. Please check it out at your leisure.

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten: Inner Turmoil<strong>

Bella's hand jerked out rapidly from under her mountain of blankets and slammed down violently onto the blaring alarm clock. The plastic emitted one final, shrill screech before cutting off entirely until it was reset to repeat its meddlesome call the following morning.

She pulled her hand back to her chest and glared with drooped eyes at the offending device. If it weren't for the fact that she could sleep right through the radio clicking on she'd have never bought the beeping alarm. The blasted things had always made her dissolve into an angry mess in an instant. Half the time she heard them she desired nothing more than to throw them right out the window and hear the satisfying crunch as they crashed onto the ground.

_Too bad shutting them off that way would just put me more out of pocket than I am_. She thought peevishly, rolling onto her back under the still warmed sheets of her bed.

As she gazed up at her off-white ceiling she groaned in annoyance. After all her whining and moaning to get back to her real life, her _normal_ life, now that school was just around the corner she was acting like a spoiled brat. She warred with herself on how much she actually wanted to go back into the fray of adolescent peers. Her sudden longing to stay home was almost enough to keep her planted in her bed.

Almost.

Bella mixed a dejected sigh with an irritated growl when she imagined the fallout she'd face if she stayed home. It would be bad enough for her father, who had been incredibly nervous and attentive when she'd come home the previous night, to get a call from the school nurse to report her absence. He'd feel guilty for leaving her home alone and fret about her getting sick again. The other downfall would involve a certain seven Natives in the next town over.

Oh, good Lord! They probably wouldn't even give her a second to blink before diving in, bundling her up, and taking her right back to La Push thinking she was having a relapse.

"Not happening." She mumbled aggressively before tossing her blankets aside to head for the bathroom.

Her bundled feet slid across the wooden floors of the hallway as if she were an ice skater. It was something she found childish joy in doing ever since she _was_ a young girl. She could still remember barreling through the hallways of her various homes growing up on her way to the kitchen and then hurling herself across the linoleum, tile, or hardwood floors. She'd practically ski across the floor with her hands stretched out in front of her to stop her body from being propelled over a counter.

It really was a wonder that she'd never broken anything that way.

Particularly her neck.

She hurried through her shower so that she could get to school early and pick up her missed class assignments from the main office. She winced when she thought about how much she had to catch up on. She'd have to stay after school to get extra help from Mister Poole, her math teacher, she knew. She was a miserable failure in that class as far as she was concerned.

_Maybe I can ask Sam for help?_ She thought momentarily as she worked the towel through her damp hair.

Immediately afterwards Bella shook her head of the thought. Sam Uley certainly owed her for the embarrassment he'd put her through, but not in a way that he could pay-off by tutoring her. Oh no. That man needed to learn a lesson the right way.

_Never cross a woman, Sammy. You'll only dig yourself a hole that way_.

She wasn't sure how she was going to get back at him for continuing to finger her off when he knew the others guys were right there, but she'd figure it out sooner or later. He was already lulled into a false sense of security by her 'guilty-girl' and 'blushing belle' attitude after he had done the deed so when she finally got her revenge it would be all the sweeter.

_Maybe I'll taunt him with it beforehand? Get him nerved up and panicky and watch him sweat. That in itself might be punishment enough…Eh, I'll think about it later_.

Bella dressed herself in a pair of baggy blue jeans, a white-lace tank-top, and white turtleneck sweater. She kept her thicker socks on and shoved them into one of her looser pair of Sketchers. She loved Pumas, but they were running shoes. They wouldn't be able to handle the bulk of her required socks without cutting off circulation to her poor appendages. She plaited her hair into a tight braid since it was still damp. It never fully dried unless she used a blow-dryer. Deciding that she really couldn't do much else, especially since she wasn't a girl that liked to wear make-up, she moved back into her bedroom to restuff her backpack with her school supplies.

She never kept much in her backpack. She had two regular, college-ruled notebooks for all of her various classes and a few gel pens. Her math notebook was completely separate from the other two. It consisted of three separate sections, the rear-most section being scratch and practice problems. It was a thick notebook filled with messy problems and complete mumbo-jumbo as far as she was concerned.

She _hated_ math.

Grumbling under her breath, Bella flicked her bag over her shoulder before going downstairs.

"Ugh. Still smells like burnt toast." She was swiftly coming to the conclusion that she was going to have to teach her poor father how to make his own food. She'd be around until the end of her senior year, but her getting sick proved that he was helpless in the cooking department. She couldn't leave home for good without at least teaching him to fry food in a pan.

Looking through the kitchen for something to eat she made a mental note to go grocery shopping after school. She'd had to throw out half the stuff in the fridge and freezer as well as a few things in the cupboards because they'd expired. She'd meant to go shopping before Edward left and she'd gotten sick since some of the food they had was getting old or they weren't eating it, but of course she hadn't had the opportunity being holed up at the Black's house. She'd been lucky to find the chicken still in good shape in the freezer when she'd come home last night.

Settling on a bowl of dry cereal since the milk had expired Bella plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs to eat her meager breakfast. As she used her fingers to transfer the Chex she'd poured into a clean bowl into her mouth she thought about how Charlie Swan had acted the previous night when he'd found her home.

She'd been startled from unpacking by the sudden pound of the front door careening into the wall. Immediately afterwards her father had torn up the stairwell to stand gawking at her from her bedroom doorway. She smirked. For an older man with a bit if a rounding belly he certainly could move fast when he put his mind to it.

"I'm back." She'd squeaked dumbly.

The hug he'd given her had been something she would never forget. He'd held her to him as if she'd been gone with her mother and Phil for several years without calling once and was afraid that she was going to up and disappear again. She'd returned the hug almost shakily, whispering an "I love you, Daddy," into his uniform.

Strangely enough it hadn't been an awkward embrace or caused an uncomfortable silence between them afterwards. Charlie'd just squeezed her upper arms softly, comfortingly, before retreating back through her doorway.

"I missed you, Bells." He'd admitted gently.

"I missed you, too, Dad." She'd assured him before shooing him off to get ready for dinner.

They'd eaten in relative silence, only filling in the few tenser moments with dialogue about her stay with Jacob and the others. She'd talked with him every night over the phone, but they usually weren't very detailed conversations. Mostly he would ask after her health and she would reply that she was getting better. He'd also inform her, much to her glee since there was always some wolf listening in, that he wasn't against using his 'license' with lethal intent. She'd practically fallen out of her chair the first time he'd thrown out the more than sincere offer laughing. It had only been more priceless because Quil, who had been babysitting her at the time, had paled drastically giving his skin an almost grey tint.

_Won't kill 'em, but it'll leave a Hell of an itch and burn_. She thought snidely, munching giddily on her Chex.

By the time bedtime had rolled around at nine, mostly since she was still a little sick and had grown used to sleeping most of her day away, she'd marched up to her room before sinking down into the comforts of her bed. She'd kicked her duffel bag roughly from the bed and _hmm_'d into the comfort of the downing pillow.

Just before slipping off into the peace of dreamland she'd received a '_ping_' of seven text messages on her phone wishing her a good night and several reminders to call at least one of them tomorrow before going to school.

_Bunch of controlling pin-heads_. She thought waspishly as she forwarded the same messaged to each guy…not very personal, but she was just as much of a cranky witch thirty minutes before going to sleep as she was thirty minutes after waking up. _I've got a regular sentinel on me at all times and they still blackmail me into alerting them to my every move? Gah! I really need to find a way around this_ rule.

Suddenly feeling a lot less hungry, though she was rarely very hungry in the morning anyway, Bella emptied the small amount left in her bowl into the trash.

"Time for the funeral march, I guess." She muttered under her breath before cleaning up her slight mess in the kitchen, hauling her bag to the front door, and slipping on her coat. She mumbled incoherently to herself as she fished her cellphone out of her back pocket to call Embry. He was normally home in the mornings. Five days with the guys, six if she counted Monday in her summation, and she'd figured out the general rhythm of their patrols and work hours.

Just before she pressed the call button she froze in the doorway she'd just opened.

Paul Lahote was leaning up against his fairly new Chevy Silverado with extended cab. The dingy silver color of the truck matched his silvered fur in wolfen form perfectly. He was wearing a pair of dark-wash jeans, a white v-neck shirt that stood out against his russet colored skin, and a black leather jacket that practically caressed his muscular frame. Most girls her age would swoon over Channing Tatum, but she knew without a doubt that just a single glance at Paul would have any poor, unsuspecting girl erupting in euphoric flames. She had to consciously slap her inner slut to keep from panting like a bitch in heat.

"Good morning, Button." His rattling baritone had her knees quivering. _Shit! There should be a restriction label for these guys on when they're allowed into the public eye. It's too early for this._

She snapped the phone shut with a flick of her fingers.

His gait, long and smooth, soon had him standing directly in front of her on the small front porch of her home. She craned her neck back almost uncomfortably to make eye contact with the behemoth. He was smirking devilishly down at her. The look had more than just her knees quivering.

"You're leaving early." He remarked good-naturedly as he eyed her much smaller frame up and down. She was still in a state of shock when his hand rose to press the backs of his fingers to her forehead. His brows were furrowed in thought. "You don't have a fever."

Belatedly her brain caught up with the one-sided conversation going on outside of her haywire hormones. Trying to wipe away any irritation she had at his protectiveness and paranoia she reached up and manacled her hand around his wrist to pull it away. Her fingers weren't even close to touching around the girth of the appendage.

"I have to collect my homework from the main office before my first class." She explained simply as she tried to keep her eyes from taking a mental 'is he perfect for reproduction?' perusal of his muscled form.

His eyes zeroed in on her jacket…or her chest. She wasn't entirely sure. "Are you cold?"

"A little." She admitted when she shivered as a cold wind breezed through and collided with the warm air still hitting her back from the open doorway. Shaking her head clear she stepped forward a tiny bit, all the while trying to ignore Paul's unique, musky scent as she got farther into his space, and shut the door behind her. She blanked him out as she turned the key in the lock. Years of living in a city and having a police chief for a father, estranged or not, had programmed her to trust no one.

She was startled when she felt a heavy, hot hand settle onto her lower back. Paul's masculine chuckle reverberated through his hand into her back and shot goosebumbs up and down her spine.

"Come with me to my truck real quick, Bella." His hand propelled her forward towards the waiting truck. Twice she attempted to scuff her heels into the ground, undecided on whether she was trying to slow him down or stop him completely, but his free hand only crossed over his chest to snatch her hand up and tug her that way in sync with the push on her back. It was childish to fight him as she was doing…but heck, she was nervous!

At the truck he settled her a few feet away from the driver's side door before he swung it open and reached into the back. She bent forward a little in curiosity and tried to peek over or under his shoulder to see what he was groping for. It was futile of course. No one and nothing had a chance of seeing around his wide shoulders and barrel chest.

When he turned back to face her with his prize in his calloused hands she gasped and threw her hands over her mouth in awe.

In his hands hung the single most beautiful coat she had ever seen in her life!***** It was almost entirely white fur and hung so that it would cover her almost to the tops of her knees. The hem flayed out in a pear-shape, accented by a silverish-grey-white belt cinching around the waist with matching colored hem, cuffs, and hood. From what little she could see of the interior of the coat it was a shiny white fabric, possibly silk. The sleeves were wide, almost belled, but long so that the cuffs would hang slightly past her fingers. The hood was full and voluptuous. All in all it was the single most gorgeous piece of clothing she had ever seen in her life.

"Oh Paul." She whispered, unable to help herself from reaching out to touch it. Her fingers skimmed across one of the softest furs she'd ever had the pleasure of encountering. A part of her just wanted to curl up into the material and fall dead asleep.

"It's for you." The words almost didn't register to her as she continued to pet the silky fur. Her eyes widened comically as the male smiled beatifically down onto her.

"Oh no!" She hushed, backpedalling rapidly. She'd snatched her hand back to her chest so rapidly anyone might think the coat had bitten her. Paul frowned a little at her. "I couldn't! It's too nice. It must have cost a fortune." She didn't doubt it. It felt like _real_ fur to her. It also looked old despite being so pristine and well-kept.

"It was my grandmother's." He explained bashfully, his cheeks taking on a darker tint. "When she passed away she gave it to my mother, but my mother…she never had anyone to give it to since she never had a daughter. She, uh, told me to give it to a girl I thought would treat it best and who I care for. I care for you, Bella mine."

Half-reluctantly she found herself moving forward again. Tentatively she ran her fingers through the sheared fur for a second time.

It was just so beautiful!

"Will you please take it, Bella? And wear it?" He implored, his tone softer than she was used to hearing it even directed at her. They were all gentler when they spoke to her compared to others, as if they were afraid she'd break if they spoke too loud, but this was something new entirely from her hot-headed shapeshifter.

Hers.

_He's mine_. She thought distantly. A baser part of herself, possibly her conscience, was warmed by that thought.

She gulped subtly before dropping her backpack from her shoulders and shrugging out of her well-worn JCPenney jacket. She pretended not to notice Paul's elated look as he helped her into the white coat and held her hair up out of the way so that it wouldn't be trapped against her back. It was harder to keep her mind from straying to naughty thoughts when his thick fingers tugged at her thick braid. The feeling brought so many pleasurable ideas to her dirty mind.

As soon as she'd buttoned up the inner-fabric edges and tied the belt closed she felt her body heat being absorbed and thrown back at her in the cushy confines of the coat. She hummed delightedly and rubber her cheeks into the fur encasing her shoulders. Paul's hands turned her back around to face him by her hips before he flicked the hood over her head.

"You look like an angel." He spoke so softly she nearly missed the words. Her own cheeks flushed as she turned moistening eyes up to meet his.

"Thank you." She squeaked before she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly to her. His strong arms banded behind her back and under her butt to support her. Her head lolled on his shoulder in the confines of her new coat. "Thank you so much."

"You're more than welcome, Bella mine." She felt his lips even through the hood press into the back of her head.

A few tears trickled from her eyes. She'd never received a present so wonderful. It wasn't the lavishness of it or the beauty, though that was enough to have her squealing with girlish delight…she was still a woman after all and most women deep down loved presents. It was the fact that she knew he'd put thought into it. He knew that even when she wasn't sick that she got cold often and didn't like feeling anything but warm and sedate. He knew her penchant for soft things. He knew the importance of family to her. He didn't just go out and buy her something pretty. He gave her something that obviously meant something to him and his family and something that was equally practical for her.

His hand patting lightly on her rump had her shifting back to her feet. "It's time for you to go to school now, Bella. I'll make sure the others know you're on your way there."

His hands caressed her lightly through the coat as she bent to pick up her bag and drape it back over her shoulder. When she faced him again he ran a finger over her blushing cheek. His smile was caught somewhere between smug and childish delight.

"Uhm, thanks again." She pulled her head a little ways away from his tender touch, missing it almost immediately. Five days and she'd turned into a dependent ninny.

"Before I forget," she began, backing up towards her relic of a truck with Paul stalking after her just as slowly, "I was going to the grocery store right after school. I have to restock the house. I figured I could tell you now so I won't have to call later."

"Not a problem, little one." Paul cornered her up against the rear wheel of her truck. His heat radiated off of him and into her even through the thickness of her new coat. His hand returned to brush at her cheek as if he couldn't stop himself from touching her. He bent forward slowly, making her watch and knowing she was unable to pull away, before giving her a lingering kiss.

She whimpered softly when he pulled away from her. The kiss, though quick, was so sweetly given that she didn't want it to end. His pleased snigger had indignation flaring inside of her, but she didn't act on it. It was her own fault for allowing him to kiss her in the first place.

"Drive safe, Button. I'll tell the others." He reached out, opened the driver's side door, and then effectively deposited her onto the bench seat. She was near level with his face with how high up the cab sat. She was still gaping at him as he pulled her keys from her front pocket and started the engine. She couldn't miss the wince on his face even if she tried when her mechanical beast roared.

"Good truck." She mumbled, eeping when Paul's wide hand smacked a bit forcefully on the side of her thigh. It was just enough to sting, but leave no lasting soreness.

"Behave, mate." He growled in a semi-threatening voice.

Bella didn't have the opportunity to say anything in return. She felt her body being turned on the seat so that her legs were tucked under the wheel and a seatbelt was being pulled over her chest and lap. The man's warmth covered her entire midsection and upper legs as he pushed the buckle into its receptacle over her lap.

"I could have done that." She spoke straight ahead, though the words were directed towards the titan beside her. His hand ran slowly over her thigh to her knee before leaving completely. She shivered.

"I know you could have, but I like doing these things for you. You deserve to be taken care of." The words, gravelly spoken, had her shivering for an entirely different reason than heat loss. She let her petulance rise in order to keep her libido down…or at least hidden from him. She liked to live in the land of D'Nile that he could smell her arousal easily.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to coddle me. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

"I have no doubt of that." The patient indulgence in his tone irritated her as much as it endeared her to him. "Now get going, little one. At this rate you're going to be late instead of early."

Her eyes darted to the clock in the dash and she cursed inwardly. As soon as Paul shut the door she was shifting her monster into gear and getting it out of the driveway as fast as physically possible without breaking something in the engine.

Before completely exiting out onto the road she peered up into the rearview mirror to find Paul leaning up against the grill of his truck staring after her. Blood shot up into her cheeks at his heated stare.

_Definitely needs a warning label and restrictor plate_.

* * *

><p><em>Humptey Dumptey sat on a wall<em>.

Bella slumped down onto an empty seat in the cafeteria exhaustedly. Barely half the day had gone by and already she was ready to just fall back into bed and never come out. Truthfully she was more than tempted to pull out her phone to call for a ride back to the Reservation with one of the guys. A bigger portion of her sensibility had flown out the window sometime that morning in favor of falling into seven pairs of arms and allowing them to swaddle her in as much cotton as they desired.

The day had consisted of an endless round of questions fired by countless, nosey mouths.

_Where are the Cullens? Why didn't you go with them? Are you still dating Edward? How are you feeling? Were you really sick or were you faking it? Did you know they emptied the house out on your birthday?_

She was ready to smack her head into a wall. She'd do anything to just make them all leave her alone. She'd been humming children rhymes all morning to drown out the buzzing voices. She tried to drown in the whimsical words and keep away from the real world.

It didn't seem to be working all that well.

She wasn't the least bit surprised when another being came to invade upon her first moment of peace since leaving the house that morning.

"Are you okay?" That one was a first.

Bella pivoted her head around slowly to face Angela. The other girl looked genuinely concerned for her. She had no choice but to smile obligingly at the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl.

"I'm better." She assured the mousy girl. "Not great, but I'm better."

"That's good." Angela beamed gloriously as she took in the coat she still wore on her person. It was cold in the school under normal circumstances so it really was no surprise that it felt even colder to her recovering body. She'd taken it off during her first period class, but had quickly reconsidered keeping it off. She was freezing her buns off without it. "That coat is so pretty. Where'd you get it?"

"A friend gave it to me." She fingered the silver-fringed cuffs sedately. "It's been in his family for a while, but he obviously can't wear it and he doesn't have a sister so he gave it to me."

"He must really like you." Her friend murmured as she too reached out to touch the liquid-like fall of fur. "Oh! It's so soft."

"I've been playing with it all day." She admitted bashfully, still pushing her fingers through the white fur. "I think it might be rabbit fur, but I'm not positive. It's too soft and plush for mink or a few other furs. Maybe fox, although the silver is coarser so I think that could be fox. My mother tried teaching me about this stuff years ago, but I never paid attention."

"I know what you mean." Together they fondled the coat. "My mom always said I had the height and figure to be a model and tried to make me into one, but I'm not really a fashionista. I don't even have the temperament to be a model."

"Yeah, not many people do."

"There you are, Bella!" A cheery, overly sweetened voice called out over the thrumming voices in the cafeteria. Both she and Angela groaned.

"You spoke too soon." They both turned to see Jessica Stanley hurrying over to their table with Mike, Ben, and Tyler trailing after her like an entourage. Lauren was even farther behind. Her bottle-blonde hair was unmistakable even at a distance.

"This'll be fun." Bella spoke under her breath as she and Angela scooted closer together to avoid being separated by the excited girl or her more malicious cohort. Jess was the lesser of two evils that was Lauren and Jessica. At least the petite girl had the ability to remain civil…or least pretend to be a descent friend.

Lauren could stab someone in the back quicker than an assassin in a crowded room.

"So how are you, Bella? I can't believe Edward actually left you behind." Jessica tried to sound sympathetic as she took her seat on her other side. Ben cuddled up next to Angela and the two smiled fondly at each other. Lauren, Mike and Tyler were crowded up across from them, their attention centered on the confrontation she knew they were expecting to erupt between her and Jessica.

_Humptey Dumptey had a great fall_.

"His family had to move on, Jessica. I'm not one of their family." She glared at the bright red apple on her plate. There was an urge deep inside that made her want to just toss it into the trash, but she fought it down.

Barely.

"It just seems so odd, you know?" Jessica started into it again, twirling her straw around in her milk carton. "That they'd leave right after your birthday, I mean. Doctor Cullen didn't even give the hospital a week's notice. They just left."

She sunk her teeth deeply into the apple to keep her mouth from spitting out something that she might regret later.

"That happens sometimes, Jess." Angela grumbled, pushing her macaroni and cheese around on her plate. It looked more like tuna than pasta. Ew. "Sometimes you have to make a drastic change in a short amount of time if you get a better job offer. It's not like Bella did anything to make them leave."

_You have no idea, hun_. She thought morosely.

"Oh! I didn't mean it that way!" The curly-haired brunette hurriedly backtracked, her eyes wide. "Of course you didn't do anything. I mean, how could you? You never do anything wrong. I was just saying that it's strange. You know, with the timing and all? I mean…"

"It's all right, Jess." Bella sighed deeply and turned her attention from her apple to the other girl. "Things just weren't going to work out when they had to leave and that was that."

He'd said that it would be as if he'd never existed. He'd lied. She was still in pain from him abandoning her in the way he did. She'd trusted him and loved him. He'd saved her from being turned by a sadistic vampire intent on tracking her down until she gave in. He'd been her constant companion. He'd been more than just her boyfriend…he'd been her best friend. She would never be able to erase the memories of him from her mind.

Truthfully she didn't really want to.

She'd hurt less in time. It was a part of living life. You gave your heart to those you cared for, platonically or not, and sometimes they ran away with that piece of you without giving it back. But the human psyche was a marvelous thing. She could heal herself, faster with others to help her, and in time the hole in her heart that Edward and the others had made off with would be all but unnoticeable. She'd find others who could give back to her as much as she could give to them.

The boys were already well on their way in making her feel whole again.

She couldn't deny that they were good guys. Despite their penchant for annoying her and making her loosen her already fumbling grip on her libido they only ever thought of what was best for her and what would make her happy. They gave her physical comfort as well as emotional. They made her laugh and smile. They made her feel special and…loved.

They deserved whatever she had to give in return, though she doubted she could ever repay them enough for the way they made her feel.

"So, where'd you get the coat, Bella?" Lauren tried to sound nonchalant, but she could still hear the jealous undertones in her harsh voice.

"From a good friend." She replied easily, rubbing the clean backs of her fingers along the cuffs again.

"Must be more than _just_ a friend. That's an expensive coat." Lauren's eyes traveled up and down her semi- hidden frame from the other side of the table. Her lips were pulled down in a frown. Her too-thinly plucked eyebrows were drawn closely together. "I've seen something like it at an antique store when my grandmother dragged me to go with her. That's, like, nearly a two-thousand dollar coat. Then again, it could have been something completely different. That shape of coat goes so much better on a slender frame."

_Did she really just call me fat and imply that I'm loose?_

Bella forcefully stomped down on her inner vindictive bitch, who was already chanting '_are you jealous, slut?_' in her mind, and returned Lauren's cold glare with a calm one of her own.

"Well, I wouldn't know. You know, poor me. Never had a lick of fashion sense. Tell you what, next time I see my friend I'll see if he has any more things he's willing to hand out. We'll see if we can find something to match that eighties bottled dye you simply insist on using. Did you know that dying your hair so much just makes it dry and lifeless? No? Oh, well, you learn something new every day." It was an extreme effort on her part not to smirk at the other girl's affronted gasp.

It was even harder not to stick her tongue out at the other girl's back when she stomped away from the table in a huff.

_Take that you twit. Next time maybe you'll remember that if you bite me I'm more than willing to bite back…and I ain't gonna just graze the skin_.

"So, uh, Bella?" She turned her slightly smug look onto Mike. "When are you coming back to work? Mom says she's always willing to take you back whenever you're ready."

She would be. Mrs. Newton seemed to want Bella to date her son as much as Mike wanted her to date him. The older woman could be sometimes strict, but otherwise she was a good boss. She was paid under the table so she didn't really have to hassle with filling out forms if she had to take a leave of absence from work like she did after the incident with James.

"Next week, probably. I'll call her by the end of the week to work something out. I'm still not one-hundred percent and I'm pretty sure she won't want me getting the customers sick." Of course she had her royal decree to keep in mind, too. Jacob Black had made her swear to take the rest of the week off and she wasn't a liar.

"That'd be good. We miss you over there." He looked her over quickly. "Your Dad said you were staying with a family friend in La Push while you were sick. You don't look bad off to me."

"I wasn't good." She assured him, picking at the questionable taco meat on her plate with a fork. "We all thought it'd be best if I stayed someplace where I would have help if I needed it."

"Who was it? Anyone we'd know?" _Curious, aren't you Mike?_

"I was staying in Billy Black's home with his son and a few of his friends." _And my mates. Still can't believe I can think that without wincing_. "Dad and Billy along with a few of the other men at the Reservation are always fishing or watching the games together. They've been friends since _they_ were kids."

"Oh, okay."

"A guy got you that coat?" Tyler queried, his brows puckered grumpily.

"Is there a problem with that?" She demanded, her tone sharper than she had intended. Tyler's hands instantly flew up in the universal sign of surrender.

"I didn't mean anything by it." _Sure_. "I'm just curious…and you _did_ say 'he'."

"Jacob's friends are guys. Well, most of them anyway. We got to be friends, too."

A tense silence flowed over the group.

_All the King's horses and all the King's men_.

"Hey, Bella," Ben interrupted the awkward situation with his chipper voice. Instantly she was facing him with her own half-smile. "We were all planning on going down to First Beach this upcoming weekend. Kind of like we did last year. We'll have a bonfire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows and everything. You wanna come with us?"

"It's going to be freezing down there this time of year. You know that, right?"

"Sure, but it'll still be fun."

The inner her was practically prancing with giddiness at the offer. It wasn't because of the offer itself but because of the location. Now she'd have an excuse to go to La Push besides one of the guys ordering her to or her raging hormones. She really didn't like admitting it, but she missed her wolves and she wanted to see them all together.

She wanted them to hug her…kiss her.

A mental image of sitting on Embry's lap as he sucked on her neck with his hand toying with the clasp of her jean as Quil leaned down in front of her to take her lips in his flashed across her mind's eye, but she shook it away. She _really_ didn't need to be thinking like that. Especially not when she was already hyper-aware of any of them.

"Yeah, that'd be okay. I'll go."

"Awesome!" The guys all cheered at once, Mike and Tyler giving each other high-fives. Jessica scowled at Mike, but didn't say anything. Bella felt bad that the other girl crushed so hard on the jock only to have him bypass her for 'the new girl'…aka Bella.

"What's all that?" Angela asked, gesturing towards her overflowing backpack. Bella groaned again, suddenly remembering why she was so ready to throw in the proverbial towel earlier.

"It's all my missed homework. I missed this Monday, and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week. That's it." She kicked her back with her heel in a small fit of anger. "Yet I have enough work for three months to catch up on."

"You're the one who wanted to take advanced classes." Angela teased as she pawed through the bag stuffed with assignment papers. "I don't even understand half this junk. And how can you possibly stand taking Classic Literature? I can't even tell the difference between 'doth' and 'dis'."

"It takes a particular brand of genius." She gloated earning a small punch to her shoulder. She giggled happily as the other teen joined in on the laugh.

When the bell rang to dismiss them to their next classes Bella grumbled miserably.

_Did you hear what she said to Lauren? I guess she's taking Edward's leaving harder than we thought. You think she stole that fur from Rosalie or Alice? She doesn't look so sick to me. Why is she acting like that? You think maybe she really was the reason the Cullens left?_

The school was full of gossip mongers.

She felt like a lamb being brought to slaughter.

…_Couldn't put Humptey together again_.

* * *

><p>The crisp, nearly frigid air of the outdoor world smacked into her face like a physical blow.<p>

It had been an equally long last half of the day and Bella was on the verge of tearing all her hair out. They questions never seemed to end. The gossiping was even worse now than when she'd first moved to Forks. It didn't seem possible, but it was. All anyone talked about was her and the Cullen's departure.

She'd had to stay a few minutes over to talk to Mister Poole in order to schedule after school study sessions for the rest of the week, only three days, and all of next week for thirty minutes each day. The man had been accepting of the arrangement. It was lucky for her that he understood her struggle in his class for what it was otherwise she'd have had to beg one of her fellow students to tutor her. From past experiences she knew that that never worked. Kids her own age never had patience enough to deal with all of her questions.

She was just shifting her bag more comfortably on her shoulder when she was startled out of her misery by a heavy hand landing on the small of her back.

"Shit!" She squealed stumbling backwards. The hand supporting her back slid a little to the side to completely brace her and keep her from landing on her ass.

"Easy there, hun." Jacob's rumbling voice reverberated down through her skin straight to her bones and core. His seductive chuckle had her most intimate parts clenching spasmodically. "A little jumpy?"

"You move too quietly." She argued, glowering up at him through her lashes.

"You don't pay enough attention." He countered with his most debonair smile.

_Okay, it's still too early for these guys. Actually I don't think I'll ever be ready for them. Am I biased or are they just that mouthwatering?_

"What are you doing here?" She questioned as the male snatched her bag off of her shoulder to carry it himself. His hand at her back was pushing her out to the parking lot.

"Can't a guy just come to see his girl?"

"I'm not _your_ girl." She snapped. When she moved to escape the hand at her back she felt it curl deftly into the fur of her coat. She knew that unless she was willing to lose her new coat that she wasn't going anywhere he didn't want her to go. Probably not even then.

"We'll see." _Cocky, sexy bastard_.

She was startled to see Paul again standing outside of the passenger side of his truck. Her own truck was parked only a couple spaces away. Paul had a whole gaggle of over-sexed teenage girls fawning over him. Jealousy warred with hilarity at the disturbed look on his face inside of her. She decided to wallow in his discomfort instead of biting off a bunch of girls' heads over a man who _technically_ wasn't hers.

"Really, what are you two doing here?"

"Paul's here to be your chauffer and pack mule." Jacob practically purred with delight at that. "Me? I'm here to hijack your truck."

"What?" She ground her heels into the ground several feet away from the flirting crowd to snarl at the wolf bracing her. He didn't so much as bat an eye at her attitude.

"It needs some work, hun." Both his hands moved to settle heavily on her shoulders. He bent so that his eyes were at her level. His chocolate mint scent blew headily into her face. She had to fight to stay coherent. "I'm not going to take it to the scrap heap. You love that tank for whatever reason so I'm just going to give it a little tune-up. Will you let me do that, Bella? Will you let me do this to make sure you're safe?"

She knew that the battle was lost to her before it even began so she sighed instead. Absently she raised her hand to pat Jacob's cheek affectionately and sidestepped his hands. She didn't miss the satisfied grin he gave her as he stretched his body back to his impressive height.

"Give me the keys, Bella." He ordered as he followed her through the throng of girls. She didn't miss the fact that one of them was Lauren.

"Say please." She taunted playfully, smirking over her shoulder at her friend.

"Please give me the keys, Bella." He growled, his tone a little less playful than hers. He didn't like not getting what he wanted instantly. Too bad.

"I don't think you mean it." She was playing with fire, she knew, but she'd had a tough day. If she could get some enjoyment out of pushing his buttons than she really didn't see any harm in it.

"That's it." His words morphed into a bestial sound that had her heart pattering double-time and her pussy leaking copious amounts of fluid. Drool pooled in her mouth. Oh God! Did he know what that sound did to her? She hoped not.

His left arm snaked around her waist from behind and pinned her arms to her side. His fingers ghosted purposely over her right side sending her into a fit of laughter. Heads turned their way, but he continued to torture her as his free hand tucked into her front pants pocket and pulled out her keys. As soon as he had them in his grip he released her.

"Dirty trick." She grumbled, but did nothing to take her keys back. The battle was lost.

As his fingers worked deftly to remove her car key from the rest she took in his appearance. Like Paul he wore dark-washed jeans, but his shirt was a crew cut light blue topped by a black denim jacket. A silver chain necklace peeked in and out of the collar of his shirt. He was drool worthy.

"Go to Paul, now, Bella." He placed the keys he didn't need back into her hand and tossed her backpack through the air into Paul's waiting arms. She scowled. It was a good thing she kept the zippers closed otherwise she'd be picking up papers until the end of the century.

"You promise you won't take my truck to the junkyard?" She pleaded softly. Jacob gave her adoring look. She could almost read the desire in his eyes to kiss her lips.

She wasn't sure if she could have pushed him away if he'd tried. She was pretty sure she wouldn't _want_ to push him away.

_Oh man. Why do they have to be so attractive?_

"I promise. Now go on." He patted her behind as lightly as Paul had that morning when she'd hugged him as she turned around. She didn't bother watching him hop into her truck and drive away. She trusted him and even if she didn't she knew where he lived. It wouldn't be too difficult to hunt him down.

A smile played across her lips as her engine roared loudly behind her. Her eyes zoomed in on the overwhelmed wolf just ahead of her.

_Oh well. Might as well save him. It's the least I can do_.

* * *

><p>The scent of alcohol, turpentine, and several other manmade chemicals burned in his nostrils as the girls of Bella's school swarmed him. He couldn't stand perfume on a woman anymore. He couldn't even smell any of the flora or fruit extracts added to the chemical mixes to make them as appealing as they were to human men and women. To him these girls smelled like an oil field set on fire.<p>

It was only his sometimes questionable self-control that was keeping him from heaving his cookies right then and there.

"How are you, Paul?" His mate's voice reached out to him even over the high pitched squeals and bothersome chatter of the sea of females around him. His wolf growled with contentment as he watched her ease through the crowd.

Isabella Swan wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd even seen in his life, but she was without a doubt the most perfect in his eyes. Though she was average in height she was just so _small_ compared to him. Since first scenting her he'd been fighting the urge to take her away from the rest of the world where anything could happen to her. He could barely stand the thought of anyone even looking at her in any way that he deemed unacceptable…from male or female. He only wanted her to be treated with the utmost respect from everyone. She deserved it.

She reminded him of the painting of _Girl with a Pearl Earring_ by Jan Vermeer.***** The way her innocence melded with her subtle, natural beauty compelled him. She always had the same look on her face as the girl in the painting. It was a look caught somewhere between love, awe, and trust with a healthy dose of hope. She looked at him with her honey brown eyes as if she was wishing for something she didn't dare dream of having yet still wanted. It was a look that could bring a man to his knees.

Wearing his grandmother's coat he found her even more stunning. The coat had been a wedding present from his grandfather to his grandmother over fifty years ago and had been in his grandfather's family several generations before that. It had originally been made for one of his forefather's wives as a token of his love. The way it clung delicately to her slight frame now made him think that it had been made solely for her.

Her own scent knocked away the others blessedly as she neared him. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out a hand to run it over her smooth cheek before pulling her hood back up over her head. He didn't want her getting sick again and he knew by the rosy hue to her tiny ears that the cold wind had begun to takes its toll on her body. Her blush was easily discernable to him from any other delicate stain lifting on her slender cheek bones.

"Keep this up when you're outside." He ordered gruffly. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"How are you, Paul?" She asked again, enunciating each word slowly and proficiently. He tamped down the urge to tap her nose for her jeering.

"I'm fine, Bella. I hope school went well." He was already pushing her towards the passenger side door. He wanted to get away from the other females. It was bad enough that he had no desire for them whatsoever, especially with his mate right next to him, and their horrid perfumes clogging his nose, but he also wanted to get Bella away from all the people. His wolf didn't want her feeling cornered and getting scared. He didn't want any of them near enough to touch her perfection.

"Bella!" He suppressed a snarl when one of the more brash females in the crowd came closer to him. She even reached out a hand as if she thought she could touch him. He pulled his arm right out of her reach. Her resulting pout was unattractive. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Paul." He didn't miss the irascibility in his mate's voice. He couldn't. Every one of his senses was tuned into her. Her movements. Her voice. Her breathing. Her heartbeats. He could and would miss nothing about her. "Paul, this is Lauren."

She was a pretty enough girl. She had smoky blue eyes and blonde hair, though it was obviously dyed that color, and a slightly athletic figure. He could easily place her into one of the popular cliques for any high school. She didn't smell quite as putrid as the others, but her perfume was still a major turn-off. He knew that even without having met Bella, his personal _Venus_, that he would never be interested in this girl. She was young, superficial, and gave out vibes that he just didn't like.

"Nice to meet you." The girl, Lauren, reached out her hand for him to shake. He didn't oblige her.

"Hello Lauren." It wasn't exactly nice or proper, but he wouldn't be a complete dick unless she proved to be a threat against his Bella. He opened the passenger door before cupping Bella's right thigh to help boost her up into the cab. "Let's get going, Bella. You shouldn't be out here in the cold for too long."

"I'm fine, Paul." She whispered as he ignored the other students completely.

"Don't fuss, little one." He allowed her to adjust her own seatbelt before shutting the door on her. With a flick of his wrist he flung her bag into the bed of the truck. As he rounded the front end he felt a small, but unfamiliar hand slip into his. On instinct he pulled his own hand away and turned violent eyes on the unfortunate soul that thought to touch him.

It was Lauren.

"Look, I was wondering if I could have your number? Maybe we could go out sometime?" She tried to move her body so that she would seem more appealing to him. She was trying to be a seductress. Her eyes took on a heavy-lidded gaze that swept him from head to toe. Oh, if she only knew who she was dealing with!

_She has nothing on Bella's innocent charms, either_.

"I don't think so." He replied flatly before showing her his back.

He was delighted by the spike of shock and fury in her cloying scent.

Without preamble he hauled himself up into the driver's seat, threw the Chevy into reverse, and made a beeline out of the crowded parking lot. He'd kept it running since he'd parked so that when Bella showed up she'd have someplace warm to sit.

"You were rude." Her amusement spurred on his own and he smirked at her.

"I didn't make her cry. You should be proud of me."

"I'd have been prouder if you'd made her cry." He couldn't help but feel that she wasn't entirely joking with him despite the pleasure in her voice. "Is Jacob really going to fix my truck or is he going to sabotage it so that he'll have an excuse to replace it later?"

"He wouldn't risk your safety that way, Bella. He's going to fix it like he says."

"That's a relief."

Paul eyed her petite form next to him. She was playing with the ends of her coat sleeves. From her scent he could tell that she wasn't doing it because of nerves. He guessed that it was just a natural habit. She tended to play with things with her hands. He and the others had had her sitting in their laps a bunch of times and she always seemed to snatch something up to toy and fiddle with it. She'd even grabbed Jared's right foot once.

He'd been awed by her child-like behavior while she was still at Black's house. She didn't seem to do it consciously, either. She was forever wide-eyed by even the simplest things and tended to giggle adorably at seemingly random things. He'd never thought he'd be attracted to a woman as pure and innocent as she was, but he was. He couldn't deny it. She was twirling him around her finger without even trying.

"What do you have to get from the store?" He asked in an attempt to shake his mind of thoughts of her…or at least distract him for a few minutes. Pointless, but he'd try anyway.

"A lot of dairy and cold cuts. After I moved in we started using fresher products. Things that expire a lot quicker. I should have made up a list in lunch so I wouldn't have to drag you through the isles, but in my defense I didn't know you were going to be coming with me."

"Don't sweat it, little one. I was born to hunt down vampires. I think my poor body can handle pushing around a shopping cart for a while." He flexed his arms a little when she gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. He was rewarded by a harmonious giggle trailing out of her.

"Try and park as close as you can to the front door, please." She asked him, gesturing towards the 'Super M' across the parking lot from where he'd entered. "If it starts raining we won't have as far to walk with grocery bags getting logged down with water."

"No problem, Bella mine."

"Why do you call me that?" She crinkled her nose up adorably as he maneuvered his tank of a truck into the closest spot he could manage to the store. "Bella mine?"

"Because, Bella, whether you are willing to admit it or not you _are_ mine."

He scarcely managed to control the wince at his brash words. That didn't, however, mean that he didn't mean them. He'd always been a bit more possessive and dominant than his brothers before he'd phased…the first change had just brought out the beast in him more. He'd had numerous lays before shifting and countless others since, but he'd been able to contain his urges to the bedroom until he'd caught her scent.

He was a goner right from the start.

He wanted Bella more than he wanted anything else in the world. His wolf clawed at his rational side, sometimes whimpering and sometimes growling, but always begging to be closer to its mate. It would pull her into the shelter of his skin if it could to ensure her health and happiness. The man in him was beginning to want exactly the same thing. His entire being was centered around _her_ and he found himself acting instinctively with her…not holding back any part of himself.

He knew that after he finally came to heel…it was an undisputed fact that he'd fall entirely at the angel's feet in a matter of time…he'd be worse. He was territorial as it was and tuned into her ever need and desire. Ever since he'd scented her he'd begun to analyze everything according to how it would interact with Isabella Swan and how she would interact with it. _Would this noise disturb her sleep? Did she crinkle her button nose because she smelt something bad or is it something else? Her hand twitched! Was it because of a spasm or is she intending to move around?_ He was overwhelmed by his base need to know about and do everything for her.

He just wanted to baby her…

And it was driving him and his wolf insane!

She was just reaching for her door to step out when he set his hand over her closest thigh. He tried not to look too mesmerized by how it seemed to engulf her fragile ligament.

"Let me help you out?" He requested as sweetly as he could even though he just wanted to order her to let him help her.

"I can get out of the truck by myself, Paul." She chastised him lightly, her smile caught between indulgence and annoyance.

"Humor me."

After a long minute she conceded by pulling her hand away from her door and leaning back into her seat. He beamed widely at her concession and swooped forward to give her a light peck on the cheek. As he exited through his own door he couldn't help but notice her pretty pale cheeks flushing a stunning pink as her hand rose to cover the area he'd just given attention to.

_I wonder how far that blush goes?_

Once he opened her door he reached in, set his hands over her full hips, and plunked her down beside him just shy of the door. Bella's hands were set against his forearms for extra support, though he knew he'd never allow her to fall from his grasp. He may have been careful with how he touched her, always as if she was made of spun glass, but he was also steady and firm. Even a single scratch on her and his wolf would be chomping at the bit to unleash its fury on the world.

"Y-you can let me go now, Paul." He smirked at her kittenish stutter. Once again he found himself leaning forward to bring his lips to some part of her face. This time it was her forehead. He couldn't make himself stop and he didn't really want to.

"Your wish is my command, Button."

He didn't fully release her, though. Instead he set a proprietary hand to her lower back, slammed her door shut, and led her into the store. He watched her footing as much as his own, determined not to let her make a single misstep.

As he stared down at her with her head ducked down beneath the hood of her coat he pulled her a little more securely to his side.

Unveiling a true smile Paul knew then and there that had no intentions of ever letting her go.

_Bella mine indeed_.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hey hey. I know I got this chapter out a bit sooner than I normally do. Hope it's not a let-down. Anyhow, I appreciate all the wonderful reviews, especially the ones with a bit more detail that "I love it" and "Update soon". Don't get me wrong, I like hearing that as well, but it's nice to know what my readers like or don't like specifically. I'm settling into my new home fairly well so hopefully I can keep up a decent updating schedule, although I won't promise to update at quicker intervals since I don't know if I can keep up with that if anything goes wrong. Hence updates will stay at one chapter every 4 – 6 weeks, though you may see them sooner if things go well in real life for me.

As always keep your language clean when addressing me or others since I don't abide by slandering each other. Hopefully this story is still engaging for most of you. Review at your leisure.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	11. Chapter 11: Picking Up Baby

**La Push, Washington does NOT actually look as I've described. **The overall design of the town was a construction of my own design based off of what I wanted it to look like. Please do not rag on me for giving a false impression. If you want to know what is really in La Push check up on Google or your preferred search site.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven: Picking Up Baby<strong>

"You see? You just used the AC method to factor a trinomial." Mister Poole gestured to the problem scribbled down in her notebook. Bella stared at the problem with such bewilderment that anyone would think that she'd just discovered the cure for cancer and promptly knocked a bottle of ink all over the equation.

Alas, it was only a relatively simple math problem.

"What's a trinomial again?" She whispered shyly.

"It's an algebraic equation consisting of three terms." The poor man sounded like he was getting as frustrated as she was. "We've been over this before, Bella."

"I know." She tugged at a few stray locks of her hair nervously. She still stared at the problem intently. Some part of her was fervently wishing that by simply studying the equation a little longer she could miraculously understand it. She'd probably used up her quota for miracles, otherwise known as 'impossible things', anyway.

"I think we had better call it a day. Okay?" At her stiff nod Mister Poole began to shuffle all of his papers back into a neat stack to be set on his desk for later. With one last sneer at her notebook Bella flipped it shut. She didn't want to see those horrid figures ever again, though she knew she'd have to look at them again tonight in a vain hope of understanding how the answer came about. She really could understand some of the terminology, but she was a hopeless case at actually solving anything more complicated than basic math.

_Why can't everything be as simple as adding and subtracting rational numbers?_

"I'm sorry to ask this, Bella, but I'm genuinely curious how you've managed to pass through your most recent years of mathematics?" The question made her stomach lurch with embarrassment. She shrugged noncommittally.

"Honestly it was a lot of luck. Almost as soon as the school year is done I forget pretty much everything dealing with numbers. I've tried taking summer courses and special help classes, but I just can't wrap my mind around anything numerical." She sighed deeply as she pulled her coat back over her arms. She couldn't feel the silk interior underneath the fur due to the pale blue turtleneck she was wearing today.

"Have you ever considered going out to Port Angeles to the Study Center?" That perked her interest. She paused in slinging her bag over her shoulder to eye her teacher questioningly. The slightly greying male handed her a three-fold pamphlet that she hadn't noticed he'd picked up from his desk while she packed up. "A good friend of mine, Susanna Brighton, runs the Center. They help out students from age ten to twenty. I'll send her an email if you're interested. I think she and her colleagues could really help you out."

She gave him a thankful smile before taking her leave, promising to see him again for yet another study session as scheduled after school on Monday.

Making her way towards the parking lot Bella glanced over the pamphlet in her hand. _Brighton's Center for Education of Port Angeles_. The woman, Susanna, had a colored photo of her and her colleagues on the back page. She was an older woman, possibly in her mid to late fifties. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun, silvering flecks showing just as much in her light brown hair as it had showed in Mister Poole's. Despite her business-like exterior she had a certain sparkle to her eyes that made her think that the woman was a real sweetheart underneath her attained gruff exterior.

"There you are, Princess." The husky baritone startled her out of her absentminded walk towards imminent disaster. She wasn't a world-renowned klutz for nothing. Distracted walking was a hazard to both her health and others'.

Quil Ateara was currently striding directly towards her with determined, confident steps. Her eyes raked over his chosen attire. His legs were clad in black cargo pants and an emerald green, v-neck sweater neatly stacked over a plain white t-shirt. The colors stood out magnificently against his dark skin. His smile was as infectious as Jake's had ever been and the dimples were practically calling out for her to poke her index fingers into them.

"Hiya, Quil." She let out a whoosh of air as she was pulled up off of her feet in a one-armed hug. With the height he'd boosted her up to she was able to see the gaggle of girls he'd attracted standing in a cluttered mess around his obsidian-blue GMC Terrain. She had to duck her mouth to the relative safety of his shoulder to hide her laughing lips. They all looked about ready to have a pissing contest over who would get the chance at the latest Native to grace Forks High right after they all ganged up on her to skin her alive.

Just like all the others to pick her up after school since her truck was still in Jacob's capable, grease-stained hands he ignored the girls deftly. Paul had been the only one outwardly disgusted with her fellow female students. Jared and Sam had both simply stared directly past the females swarming them as if they didn't even exist.

She loved it.

It may have been wrong for her to feel so smug, but she couldn't help but feel that way. She didn't think they could all work out as a whole and she didn't understand why they were attracted to her the way they were, but she had told them that she'd try. A part of her, a major part, really wanted this to work. She wanted to be with them. She wanted to give them as much as they seemed determined to give to her.

She couldn't deny that they weren't trying, either. Even without being within immediate reach on the Reservation they doted on her. Oh sure, once in a while it felt like they were smothering her to the brink of madness, but for the most part they kept her smiling. They fought…she knew they did because she could hear them snarling and barking at each other while she was cooking dinner before Charlie got home from the cover of the forest. They didn't seem to know that she often saw them walking in and out of those same forests punching each other viciously when something came up that they didn't agree on.

Usually it was over how to take care of her properly.

A perfect example was after Paul brought her back home after grocery shopping which was an experience all on its own. He'd handed her the two bags holding eggs and bread and the milk before smacking her rump playfully to send her off into the house. She'd scowled at him, but had done as he had bid her to.

He'd made two trips compared to her normal four or five and aided her in putting the food away to their appropriate spots. She'd thought he'd leave then, but he didn't. Instead he urged her to cook something he'd never seen before and show him how to do it. She hadn't had a clue what he did or didn't know of different foods so she settled with making Apple Stuffed Turkey Breasts. From her stay in La Push she knew that they were far from clueless in the kitchen so this recipe was simple enough to recreate without being entirely boring.

He'd touched…ahem, _fondled_ her unceasingly in the kitchen just as he had done in the grocery store. Apparently she was incapable of standing on her own for more than a minute without needing a hand to support her back or stomach. She didn't even know how to interpret those same hands skating down her thighs or buttocks besides him being horny. Several times she whopped him hard with a wooden spoon to get his Russian hands and Roman fingers from living up too highly to that namesake.

Halfway through cooking Charlie had called to say that he was going to be home late which had set the wolf on a smirking rampage.

By the time dinner was ready she was willing to hurl Paul bodily and bloodily from her home. It had become a necessity after she'd informed him that she wasn't hungry at that moment and was going to catch up on some of her homework instead. He'd taken it bad. He'd interpreted 'not now' as 'never' and tugged her almost hurtfully onto his lap at the small kitchen table, tucked them in, and then proceeded to feed her like a child. Several times she opened her mouth to protest only to find another forkful of turkey shoveled into her mouth. He ate his own serving from her plate between bites and grumbling. He'd kept her hands pinned to her sides by a single restraining arm over her waist and her kicks to his shins under the table weren't even strong enough to make him flinch. She'd given up fighting eventually and attempted to take the fork and feed herself, but he'd denied her that simple pleasure as well.

"Be a good girl." He'd rumbled as she picked her fight back up with a slightly different intent this time around. She wanted to injure him now instead of just get away. "Sit still and let me feed you."

She'd been contemplating putting all of her strength to wrench a single hand free, snatching up the lone butter knife on the table, and beating him with it. She wasn't cruel enough to _stab_ him. But then all of her swiftly made plans had evaporated in an instant when Seth and Embry had barged right into the house and took up offensive stances on either side of the table.

"Let her up, Paul." Embry had growled huffily, his arm muscles rippling attractively as they flexed unconsciously.

"We can smell her anger and fear from outside." Seth eyed her critically before curling his lip at the wolf she was perched upon. She was still pushing her small hands into his forearm. "You're disturbing her, Paul. Let her go."

Paul let loose a growl so feral it sent chills of both fear and desire scorching up and down her back. The growl cut off to a purr in the end, though, with the others joining in when they seemed to read her dread. They were trying to comfort her in a way they thought would work most effectively.

And it did work. Remarkably well.

Paul had set her onto her feet gently, kissing her temple so softly she thought she might have turned to glass, and stomped out the front door with purpose. The others had both pecked her lightly on the forehead before charging after the older wolf. Her nosiness reared its ugly head as she followed behind them to peak through the front window beside the door. They were fighting almost as soon as they stepped off of her driveway. Not even a minute later she could hear snarling and barking from the woods.

Paul's truck had disappeared from the driveway before her father had made it home.

She'd been upset by how Paul had treated her and how the guys seemed to fight each other or argue more than anything, but she still enjoyed their company overall. She enjoyed feeling like she was actually important and special to others. Baser parts of her nature beneath the sarcasm, attitude, and shyness she wallowed in the care they were showering upon her…and only her.

Quite frankly they treated everyone else with a cool disinterest that seemed at odds with their striking personalities. Paul was a hot-headed Dominant. Seth was a joking Casanova. Jacob was a smirking Adonis. Sam was the closest to replicating the very omnipotent Thinking Man, but even he had a cocky arrogance that just didn't play along with the insouciance they all played at. It kind of startled her that even Billy Black was treated as a third-party citizen by his own son half the time.

It was Quil's free hand tugging her hood back up over her unguarded head that brought her out of her musings. "Did you have fun at school?" He asked joyfully as if he was an over-enthusiastic parent asking their child about their first day of school.

"Fine enough." She flicked her hood back down to let her unbound hair free. It was a rarely nice day in Forks. The Sun had even made an appearance several times throughout the morning and afternoon. "We've got a new project we're going to be starting in English come Monday. I don't really wanna do it."

"You'll do great." He pulled the hood back up. When she went to snatch it down again he grabbed up both of her wrists in one hand to set them back down in front of her waist. "Leave it there. It may look nice, but the wind is bitter cold."

"Fine." She snapped, tearing her wrists out of his hold. She was completely aware that the only reason she could do it at all was because he'd allowed her to.

"Sometimes you're just too adorable." Quil cooed as he teasingly reached out to pinch her cheek. With an aggravated pout she slapped her hand roughly against his chest to distract him, only noticing that she'd struck with the pamphlet-filled hand after she heard the paper crinkle. Quil's head canted off to the side inquisitively.

"What's that?" Bella pulled it out of his immediate reach as he stretched out his hand for it.

"I'll tell you later. Now let's go pick up my truck. I want my baby back." She slipped out of his warm-armed lead in order to use both of her hands as a bracer on his wide, hot back. She dug her heels into the ground and pushed with all her might forward. She felt like she was trying to push a military tank out of a sink hole. Quil's booming laughter startled the girls still waiting by his vehicle.

"In that much of a hurry, Bella?" He was purposely dragging his feet. She was sure of it.

"Yes. Now pick your feet up and _move_."

Quicker than she could say 'Holy moly great balls of fire' she was stumbling forward after a man that was no longer standing directly in front of her. Her arms spun a few times in a comedic pinwheel as she regained her footing and glared up at the doofus several feet ahead. The particular twinkle in his eye with matching Cheshire Cat grin had her promising retribution.

"What'cha waiting for, Bella? I thought you just said you wanted to get going."

_This_ was why she tended to wonder why she even bothered to consider them as anything more than casual acquaintances and friends. Even though she wasn't twenty-one they still drove her to drink. If she was tempted by alcohol at all she'd be an utter lush by now. Having a father in the police force and a flighty mother that she had to babysit since she was capable of making her own breakfast had all but washed away any and all interest she had in drinking alcohol, though. In a way it was a Godsend that she'd been raised that way.

Still, the guys were unrepentantly bothersome.

"Jerk." She muttered under her breath as she bumped past the brute. She knew he could hear her, too. It just didn't make any difference to her.

"But I'm your jerk." He jeered happily over the murmurs of the crowd parting for them. Several of her fellow students sneered at her openly. She heard several mutter 'what the Hell' or 'not another one' and a few choice '_whore_'s for good measure. It was the last one she knew made Quil's hackles rise. She could feel his tension mount in the air the moment the slanderous words were spoken.

She'd expected this. It was one of the many reasons she knew that anything between them all could _never_ work. While she didn't want to be called filthy names, half of them she knew she didn't even deserve, she could live with it. She could leave Washington altogether if need be. The guys couldn't, though. They needed someplace to call home and a home to protect. Their home was in La Push with their tribe. She couldn't live with herself if she ruined that for them.

She'd decided even as she'd promised so many days ago to _try_ this 'thing' that if it came down to it she'd leave. She was used to pulling up her roots. It would hurt emotionally, but she could leave. She could run away and lick her wounds leaving the guys with their honor intact. She'd leave them with the home she knew they deserved.

_That's then. Not now._ For once the inner her sounded defeated and morose. She didn't think it had the ability to sound anything but sarcastic or rude. Apparently she was wrong. _Just enjoy what little I have left. That's all I can do_.

Puffing out a hefty bit of air from her lips, enough to send her bangs skyrocketing a few inches, Bella released her own sudden rigidity to grin at the mammoth beside her. Her mission was to put a smile back on his face before the hour was out and by Golly she'd do it!

"Yes, _my_ jerk. Now, why don't you just hop into the driver's seat like a good chauffer and maybe I won't touch the radio." His eyes squinted at her instantly, though she could see the mirth bubbling up through his anger with the other humans.

"If you so much as attempt to flick off my Oldies I'll drag you around for the next year by the seat of your pants."

She leapt up the short distance into the passenger seat with a hearty chuckle. Her fingers wiggled and waved to either side of her head as she rolled her eyes ceiling-ward. "Ooh! I'm _so_ scared!"

"You little imp." Quil shot his hand forward to pinch her side once playfully. He was rewarded by a very childish 'eep' escaping her lips and her hands dropping from their mocking to shield her sides. "Keep it up and I'll pull you over my lap."

_Queue outward facing tongue_.

"You're such a meanie." Her smile was jaw cracking as the man shook his head at her cuteness, to the wolves at least, and shut the door softly but firmly for her. It hit her suddenly that since getting sick and having Jacob come to watch over her she had hardly opened or closed a door on her own in their presences.

Her attention diverted back to Quil when he swiftly shot down several offers of a night out by various students, aged freshmen to senior. His mask had fallen back into place around the girls. He looked like a real hard ass. There wasn't a single hint of any emotion on his straight-nosed face.

Truthfully she didn't understand why the girls of her school even bothered to keep asking for dates from the guys, different though they may be, when they obviously showed no interest. Maybe she didn't get it because she always thought it was the male that she do the asking for the most part? Well, the first date anyway. She was all for women's rights, but men weren't made physically stronger and with fatter egos just for show. They were born and bred to use those traits. Why try and throw a wrench in nature's design?

_Oh God! If any female activists heard me right now I'd be short a bra and suffering from a lecture-induced coma_.

By the time Quil had brushed of several girls and slipped into the driver's seat his lips were pulled down into a severe grimace. As soon as she snapped her seatbelt on, something she knew she had to do if she wanted any of them to even pull their cars out of Park, he was peeling out of the school parking lot. She was half-concerned that he would be using one of his erstwhile fans as a speed bump if he went any faster.

"I can't stand that smell anymore." He brushed the back of his hand across his nose agitatedly. "Perfume just smells like lighter fluid to me now. All alcohol and manmade chemicals. I can't tell you how much I love the fact that you don't wear any."

He breathed in deeply several times then. His barrel chest expanded beautifully as the warmed air of the car slipped in and out of his thinned lips. Those same lips curved upwards in a peaceful beam as he glanced her way. Unbidden she found her cheeks flushing with color.

"You always smell so good. Oranges and spice. A lot of cinnamon." She wasn't startled when his hand fell over her thigh. All of them had a fondness for it. In the car it was always a hand laying on her thigh. Anywhere else she'd have a hand on her, but she could never be sure where it'd be at any given time. "I've never smelt something so good."

She wouldn't deny that they all smelled equally good. All of them had a base scent of Sandalwood and musk, but something else unique to each. Quil's scent was infused with rosemary and a little thyme. Jacob was chocolate-mint. Sam had coffee and nutmeg. Jared's was hazelnut. Paul reminded her of pine and wood smoke. Embry smelled like cedar and Seth emitted a scent reminiscent of clay and chamomile. It was a struggle to keep herself from drooling anytime the wind blew in her direction whenever they were around.

She did touch the radio once, but only to turn up the volume as Quil made the short drive to La Push. She'd told her father the night before that she was going to be in La Push for a few hours after school to pick up her truck from Jake's. He'd nodded his head in acceptance and told her to stay as late as she wanted. He'd just eat leftovers or order pizza, though they really did have plenty enough food that he could avoid calling out.

Her food was healthier anyway.

She was lightly humming by the time they reached the Reservation. Her eyes darted over the scenery as it passed by. La Push was smaller than Forks, but not by much. The Rez had a gas station, grocery store, library, book store, hardware store, a small Native boutique with regular clothes as well as traditional pieces, a hair salon and barber shop, a car body shop, diner, pizza place, ice-cream shop, Town Hall, a small tribal school and a quaint doctor's office. Almost all of the businesses circled the decorative park in the center of Seabreeze Circle, the main 'drag' of La Push. The buildings were mostly all one-story buildings made of either wood or stone and kept up beautifully. The town center honestly reminded her of an old-world town in Europe or something. There were only two empty shops on the Circle, but they were still made to look nice and kept clean outwardly. Perfectly groomed trees dotted the sidewalks all around.

The only shops or buildings further out from the Circle, or town square in simplest terms, were the car shop, school, and gas station. Everything else was built neatly and prettily into the Circle. Residential homes all circled around the main drag and further out to the borders of La Push.

Quil waved to several people walking the sidewalks as they passed when they initiated it. Bella grinned at several more people that she remembered from her childhood when Charlie would bring her to the Reservation to hang out with Billy or Harry. The people that seemed to recognize her as well smiled back or even waved excitedly. La Push was a _very_ small town consisting of roughly two-hundred and fifty people…or at least that's what the records showed when her dad had showed them to her. If it weren't for the fact that it was a Reservation and tribal school every child from La Push would have had to commute to Forks due to so little students.

"You belong here." Quil remarked gently, his eyes taking in her calmness. "You were born for a small town like this. Where everyone knows each other and looks out for one another."

"It's nice." She admitted bashfully. Her right hand played with the handle of her door absently. "I never really liked the city much. I might have liked them more if I was a shopper or into clubbing, but I'm not. I like being someplace where you can walk down the streets and just sit down on a bench to enjoy the weather or to talk to your neighbor about the stupidest things. It just…it just feels more like home to me that way."

And it did. Just because she could uproot herself at any time and could pretty much settle herself anywhere at any time it didn't mean that she wanted to. Her mother had dragged her too many places for too long. She longed for a permanent home. A place that she could be at peace in and raise a family…eventually.

She still had a long time to settle down to that degree!

A few streets out from the Circle was the mechanic shop that Jacob worked at. It was medium sized workshop with four car ports and another work area in addition to that. Her truck was sitting out front while two cars, one raised up on a lift and another on the ground, were in the shop itself. The sign above the exterior office door proclaimed the shop as 'Windchaser Mechanics'.

Quil parked so that her door was closest to the driver's side door of her own truck. Her eyes skimmed over it from where she sat in his SUV waiting, like they all liked her to, for him to open her door for her. Her baby didn't look any different. The paint was the same, still dull in places and chipped in others. The exterior didn't look any different.

"Down you go." Quil's voice traveled up through the arm he'd grabbed in order to 'help' her out. As soon as her feet touched down she was hurrying towards her truck. Quil was right behind her pushing the hood she'd smacked off while in his SUV back up.

"What did he do to it?" She wondered aloud as she opened the currently unlocked door to pop the hood. She didn't know a heck of a lot about cars, but she'd had her truck long enough to know what did or did not belong in its engine.

"I did a lot to it, Bella."

Jacob's nearing voice jolted her from her near examination. When she turned all the way around she found her mouth unhinging. He was wearing a grey coverall that was unzipped so that his chest was revealed. He had on a charcoal grey muscle shirt that accented the thick band of muscles of his arms and shoulders. The bottoms of his coveralls were stained with oil and various other grease stains. As his arms swung at his sides as he moved she could see the black oil staining his fingertips and palms. He even had a sexy as hell streak of it along his brow and temple as if he'd scratched himself without thinking. Even grubby as all get out he was drool worthy.

_Oh my God. I'm hopeless_. She groaned inwardly as the Alpha neared her prone form. _They need an AA group for me. AOA. Alpha Obsessers Anonymous_.

Jake waved her towards the hood and all she could do was follow the gesture numbly. As soon as she was able to lift her jaw up off of the ground she'd worry about forming coherent sentences. Quil chuckled behind her.

_Oh shit_.

Looking under her hood she knew that Jacob had done way more work to her baby than just changing the oil or a filter. New, chrome plated parts and others seemed to wink back at her from the recently cleaned engine. She must have resembled as deer caught in the headlights, but she really didn't have the ability to do anything but gawk and listen.

"I've replaced your radiator, alternator, rebuilt the engine, adjusted the front suspension, replaced all of your brakes, given you a new muffler, and replaced the gas tank since it was cracked. You know, _I_ know that I had this thing fixed better than this before your Dad bought it for you." He glanced between her and the revealed engine. "Has anyone touched it since you got it, Bella?"

"Uh…" _Smooth, Isabella. You'll win the next Newbury Award for that one_. "I, uh, no. I don't think so." With a shaking hand she reached in to run her fingers over the smooth, new metal. "H-how did you do all this?"

"Late nights and a lot of elbow grease."

"Jake hasn't been home since he started this." Quil informed her as he too looked in on the work done. He whistled in appreciation. "Good job, bro. Hey, aren't these the parts from…?"

"Yeah. Parker gave me a good deal on that beater and I found a lot of usable parts in it. I actually only had to use a few brand new parts and those were relatively small." Jacob's fingers twisted a knob more firmly in place. "The biggest thing was getting the engine done. I'm still kicking myself for not just fixing this when it still belonged in the family instead of just patching it up. It would have saved everyone a lot of grief."

"You didn't have any hold on the shop then, bro." Bella glanced between them sluggishly. They were talking over her like she wasn't even there, but she knew without a doubt that their senses were trained in her like a hunting dog onto a jack rabbit. They couldn't just forget her. Ignoring was another matter entirely. "You hadn't phased, either. We didn't have the resources we do now."

"Doesn't matter. Bella's been driving this for almost a year, remember?" At that both men tensed.

_Okay. Time to step in._

"How much did this cost, Jake?" She questioned softly, setting her left hand over his heated elbow. She felt the muscles unknot almost instantly. When he glanced down at her his eyes were significantly softer than they had been seconds before. "I've got some money saved up that I can pay you back with and if that's not enough then I can try and pay you in installments with my..."

His shaking head and rugged, gentle laugh paused her plea as deftly as a hand over her mouth would have. "You're not to worry about what this cost, Bella. I really should have fixed this truck more before I sold it to your father, but I didn't. Besides, we didn't want you driving something that was going to break down on you especially if no one can be there to help you out."

"But Jacob," and again she was cut off. This time it _was_ by a hand over her mouth. Quil's paw was hot and heavy over her lips while his other arm held her carefully about the waist. She could smell the thyme more clearly now in his scent. Reluctantly she felt herself unwinding, though she hadn't grasped the fact that she was tense in the first place with both his scent and warmth working into her body.

"This was for us, too, Bella. It made us feel better. Will you just accept this as a gift and leave it be?" His hot breath tickled her ear and made her groan behind his hand. The sound had its own effect on him it seemed since he pushed his erection up into her lower back in response. She didn't think it was purposeful. At least not at first.

Bella gulped down her apprehension and then lowered his loosened hand with her much daintier ones. "If I don't put up a fuss over this I want your word that you won't do anything like this again. I don't want to be showered with things. I don't feel comfortable with it. Please. And make sure the others know it, too. I'm begging, here."

Jacob looked uneasy with her request and by the stiffness of the arm still around her waist she could tell that Quil was feeling the same. Deciding it was best she flicked on the internal switch that would turn her into the impressionable, adorable, completely irresistible female she could sometimes, though rarely, be. That same switch triggered both puppy eyes, pout, and nervous hand gestures. It was a switch every woman had in their arsenal just so long as they knew how to use it and not abuse it.

_Countdown commencing. Three_…

Jacob's lips turned down in a frown. He reached his hands down to wring them off in the hanging part of his coveralls. His frown turned to a grimace when he was forced to look back to her with the realization that cleaning hopelessly dirty hands weren't going to get him out of this.

_Two_...

Quil's arm pulled higher up from her waist so that her breasts sat comfortably on his forearm. His right hand dropped to where hers were fiddling together to curl around them both and still them. His chin made contact with the top of her scalp in a nurturing way. She felt like he was trying to tuck her securely into him.

_One_…

Jacob and Quil both sighed deeply, Quil's breath wafting through the silvered fur of her hood's collar. Looking up through her lashes she could see the defeat on Jacob's face and had to fight back a yowl of triumph.

"All right. We'll do this your way."

_Mission accomplished, Captain. Disengaging 'Baby-Face'. Resuming normal mannerisms_.

"Thank you." She hushed before lunging forward to slap her hands to either cheek, tug his head down, and peck him gratefully on the lips. His eyes showed his surprise and delight in her public show of affection. "For everything. Thank you."

"Don't thank me, honey. You never have to and I don't want you to." His lips rose to kiss her forehead before he pulled away from her entirely. He reached into the rear pocket of the coveralls and pulled out her key. He dangled it in front of her enticingly. She didn't reach for it. She had a feeling there'd be a catch in getting it back. Just like there was a catch in getting to go home earlier in the week.

_Nothing's free in this world_.

"Now, since you obviously don't want to accept this as a gift we'll make it a trade." His smirk was a little frightening. "Come to my house tomorrow. We have something we'd like to show you."

"I can't."

"Huh?" She giggled at their shocked expressions. _Poor guys_. They seemed to think that she had no life outside of them. _Oh, poor deluded fools_.

"I'm busy. Honestly." He looked skeptical, but eventually nodded.

"Sunday, then. It really should be soon." Quil's breath blew over her head as he continued to hold onto her. Jacob's gaze was intense and unwavering. She understood in that moment that men apparently had their own unique abilities to fall back on to get what they wanted.

She nodded briskly. "Sunday."

"Good girl."

She lurched forward at the patronizing tone and snatched up her sorely missed car key. Jacob was smirking down at her from his discernable height. His and Quil's chuckles had her body struggling between pleasant tingling and distressed fidgeting.

"May I leave now? I have a lot of homework still to catch up on before tomorrow."

"Yo, Jake man! We need your help!" Jacob turned on his heel to eyeball the two men waving from the garage and lifted car.

"Be safe, little one." Jake swooped down, pecked her temple chastely, and then stomped off. She was only slightly mesmerized by the motions of his hands and the rippling of his muscles as he shifted the upper half of the coveralls back over his torso. In her mind he was the epitome of what every man only dreamed of looking like. They all were.

_But maybe I'm biased._

"What are you doing tomorrow, Bella?" The remaining man asked her curiously with a slightly elevated brow as she hopped into her truck to turn the engine over.

Her baby actually growled instead of choked!

"Way-ta-go Jacob!" Quil hooted while eyeing her truck with new appreciation.

"Oh my God! This is so awesome." Her hands caressed the steering wheel like a lover. She nibbled her lower lip between her teeth. "Oh, uhm, just things. The others at school wanted to catch me up better on what was going on while I was out."

It had been up in the air for a few days, but she'd finally decided that she was going to surprise the guys by just 'showing up' at First Beach. She hoped that coming to La Push would weigh out not telling them where she was going. They had at least one of them patrolling around her house exclusively anyway. They'd know the moment she left and by the time she hit the La Push border the others would know where she was headed with her friends. There were only so many places in La Push that attracted any outsiders.

"Uh-huh." The skepticism in his voice was clear, but she wasn't going to aid him in his struggle to find out what she was planning. The worst they'd do in the end if they couldn't figure out what she was up to would be to add more protection detail. At least she thought that's all they'd do.

She hoped that's all they'd do.

"Follow me to Jacob's." She grinned broadly as she pulled her door firmly shut, switched to Drive, and leaned heavier on the gas than she ever had before. She erupted into a fit of glorious laughter as her baby roared triumphantly and rolled forward.

Oh, she owed them big-time for this.

And she'd start paying them back immediately.

* * *

><p>Jared allowed the wolf to fall back into his being as he neared his Prime's house. The pain was sharp and cruel as his muscles ripped and tore, his bones snapped, but then it was gone. His vision snapped back from its enhanced stage until he could no longer discern each fiber growing off of the stems of the few flowers left in bloom around the small red house. His vision was still magnified ten-fold over a regular human's vision, but the wolf's eyes were sharper.<p>

He felt his stomach growl and gnaw at him from the inside out as the smell of sugar, chocolate, and barbeque crawled up his nose. Mixed into that was a healthy dose of his little mate's tropical scent. Quil had texted them all to tell them to meet at the Black's house after six. He was a little early, but it didn't matter to him. It gave him more time with his mate.

Just thinking about her smiling face had his cock begging to be buried in her tight, warm heat. He knew that once he'd had her he'd want to be in her for the rest of his life. She was the epitome of what every woman could every want to be in his not-so-humble opinion. Her long, dark brown hair and slender frame made a man feel bigger and stronger than he ever could alone. Her wide eyes practically begged him to protect her and care for her. And her feet…damn he loved dainty feet on a woman.

The only issue any of them had with her was in actuality a problem with each other.

Why couldn't just one of them imprint on her and have her as their mate?

They tried to hide their fights from her. They tried to show a united front, but he had a feeling that it wasn't working. They weren't exactly subtle when it came to her. Day to day life? No problem. Hunting and killing vampires? A walk in the park. Working together to make their mate happy? Hopeless.

"Damn it, Quil! Get your hand out of that bowl!" The exclamation from the petite beauty inside was swiftly followed by the solid _crack_ of wood on skin. Judging by the splintering sound and the accompanying yelp he had to guess that Bella had hit his brother _hard_.

"I just wanted to taste it. Please, Princess?" Quil pleaded as he pulled his cut-offs up over his hips.

"I'll grab the metal whisk next if you don't get out of this kitchen." She snarled back. Billy's scratchy, deep laughter followed immediately afterwards.

"I'd suggest listening to her, son. It's in my experience that if a woman's cooking it's her territory. Invade at your own risk."

"But she's…"

"Listen to him, Ateara." Bella warned in a deceptively calm tone. The closer he got to the house the clearer her scent got. He could now pick up her agitation and humor threaded into the citrus-spice base. "Billy's got years on you for dealing with women. Take his sage advice before you end up on your back."

"Is that a promise?" Paul's voice piped in for the first time since he'd shifted. "Cuz, Bella mine, I'd be more than willing to ignore the Chieftain in favor of your lovingly applied punishment." Bella eeped. Seconds later Paul grunted. "Okay, okay. I'll be a good boy."

"Get out."

"What are you guys doing to her?" He demanded with a hint of amusement falling from his lips as he entered the small home.

Quil was practically oblivious to him as he continued to scoop finger-fulls of what appeared to be chocolate batter into his gaping maw. Billy was flipping through a fishing magazine, _Inside Line_. He only cast the other two in the room an occasional glance. Paul was currently scowling towards the kitchen, which was well within sight, rubbing his stomach with a single hand.

"We aren't doing anything." Paul argued dutifully, still pouting.

"Not _now_." His mate shot back simply. He could hear her moving things around in drawers. "It's just a matter of time, though, before they try to come back in here and bug me."

"We're only trying to help." Quil piped in dejectedly.

"No, you're trying to get your grubby fingers into the cookie jar." She came to stand in the doorway then and he felt his jaw unhinge. She was wearing jeans and a pretty blue sweater topped by a pale, nearly beige apron. It had a few spots of chocolate and butter on the torso. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she only wore a thick pair of socks on her tiny feet. She brandished a cracked wooden spoon like a pointed finger. She practically glowed in her element. He wanted to drool. "If I needed help I'd ask. Just sit down and stay out of my hair."

Her eyes came to rest on him then and he couldn't miss the dilation of her eyes or the sudden spike in her arousal. She gulped visibly even as he smirked. With a firm shake of her head she jerked her spoon at him.

"You stay out, too, Jared. You don't and I'm gonna give you such a hurtin'!"

"Whatever you say, sweetheart." She hmph'ed but returned to the kitchen without another word.

"She's been like this since we got here." Quil informed him as he stared into the bowl he'd probably pilfered from the kitchen. His frown showed his displeasure of having nearly polished off all of the unbaked leftovers. It was a good thing their wolves fought off pretty much any virus contractible to humans otherwise they'd all have salmonellae poisoning or worms from what they ate.

In a lot of ways they were very similar to dogs. Always getting into things they shouldn't and eating before they even thought about what they were putting in their mouths.

"She's whacked us both at least five times since I got here." Paul glanced down at his stomach which was currently uncovered. Wearing only his cutoffs Jared guessed that he'd run over the same as he had instead of bringing his truck.

"Bella smacked Quil two times before Paul showed up." Billy informed him cheerily, still flicking through his magazine. "You boys really should take a hint when a woman gives it to you. Stay out of the kitchen means leave her alone."

Jared glowered at the older man. "Who asked for your opinion?"

"No one, but it seems to me that if you all would just listen to one or two things you might not find yourselves in the dog house." His tribe's Chieftain cocked an arrogant brow and met his gaze flatly. "I won't make any remarks concerning your relationship. That's up to you all, but I've had a wife and raised children with her. I can give you tips from my own experiences and maybe you can learn something. If you don't want to listen then that's up to you all."

"Listen to him." Bella dished up seamlessly when he considered biting the older man's head off…figuratively or literally he wasn't sure of. They'd all been hostile towards Billy and Old Quil after their stupid suggestion of just taking Bella like she could actually survive them. They needed to get over it, he knew, but he wanted to hold his grudge for a little while longer. The wolf in him would hold it indefinitely if it had any say.

Any threat by any measure towards its mate was unacceptable and inexcusable.

"What are you making, sweetheart?" He asked instead. He could pick out individual smells, but it wasn't nearly as easy piecing them all together in his mind to create a fuller image.

"Cookie-brownies and black-forest cake." Quil beamed as he cleared the rest of the batter from the bowl. "Those are cooling right now on the table, but she won't let me touch them."

"Because you'd eat them all before the others could even blink." Her chiming laugh pulled an invisible weight off of his chest and made him sigh contentedly. "I'm also prepping enough of my grandma's BBQ chicken to feed a small army. Once I get 'em basted one of you needs to run it out back to the grill. I have baked potatoes to keep an eye on and toss a salad to worry about."

"I'll do it!" They all volunteered. She chuckled. They glared at each other.

_Talk about sibling rivalry. Maybe pack rivalry would be a better term?_

"Stop glaring at each other." They all abruptly eye-balled where she was busying herself in the kitchen with slacked jaws. She wasn't even facing them enough to catch them in her peripheral vision. Her giggles ensued. "Don't look so shocked. Mothers aren't the only ones that have eyes on the back of their heads."

They all dissolved into half-hearted arguments and teasing until Seth and Embry arrived. By that time Bella had handed over a turkey-sized plate loaded with chicken thighs, legs, and breasts to Seth. Jared might have rolled his eyes at the puppy-dog look on the younger wolf's face if it weren't for the fact that around Bella he was equally whipped. They all were. Their damn wolves were rolling onto their backs in her presence to give her their stomachs.

_So much for being Alpha wolves!_

Jared slipped into the kitchen despite the warnings to steer clear and stole the salad tongs from Bella's fragile hands. She glanced back and up at him with soft doe eyes.

"Just relax. I'll toss the salad. You get the potatoes." She pursed her lips a little, but eventually nodded her head and stepped away from the massive bowl she'd been standing in front of.

"That sauce smells really good, sweetheart." He remarked offhandedly as he mixed the salad, all the while keeping an eye on his mate. She never went anywhere or did anything anymore without at least one of them keeping tabs on her. When they shifted their memories of her were shared instantaneously. It was something they were doing instinctively now. Automatic. Nothing about her went by without each one of them knowing about it to the minutest detail.

"It was my grandmother's recipe. It might have gone back farther in the family, but everyone remembers it most and best from Gamma." She gripped two small dishtowels in order to pull out the two trays loaded with baked potatoes.

"How much food did you make?" He asked in awe. He'd never seen anyone that wasn't a wolf prepare enough food for them all since they didn't quite comprehend how extreme their metabolisms were. It was a part of the reason why they took turns cooking for the whole pack. No one got it and it was exhausting for just one person to do all the time.

_Apparently she gets it_.

"Hopefully enough to feed you all for at least a few hours. Until Quil told me I didn't know that Jacob outfitted the shed with four restaurant-worthy fridges and freezers." She sound genuinely impressed by that. "I didn't know if I should make chicken or steak. Those were the two meats you all had the most of. Hope you don't mind what I picked out." The shyness in her voice made his knees buckle a little.

_Man-up, dude! It's only Bella…your mate…your beautiful angel…Ah Hell!_

"Of course we don't mind, Bella." He had to reach out a hand then and caress her blushing cheek. It would be impossible not to. It would be absolute torture. "We'd have helped, gladly, if you'd just asked. You don't have to do everything by yourself."

He didn't want her to, either. He wanted her to lean on them and look to them for everything and anything. It wasn't just the wolf in him. The man wanted her, too. He wanted her to want him as much as he wanted and needed her…and in time he'd have her love and she'd have his. It was only a matter of time before they all gave in to the inevitable.

Seth already had.

"I wanted to do this." Her smile was heartbreakingly beautiful. It lit up the room. At that moment Jared didn't care that he sounded pussy-whipped. He was fast realizing that she had him by his balls and neither the wolf nor the man was up to complaining about it. "You all have done a lot for me. I'm just doing what I think is right in return. I _want_ to do this."

They fell back into contented silence until Seth came back in with a plate full of fully cooked chicken. Jacob and Sam trailed in shortly after him with clearly dazed, blissful looks on their faces. He knew he probably sported a similar look. Bella's scent mixed with an abundance of food she'd lovingly made was enough to have him padding after her like a dutiful, leashed puppy.

"Come here, Bella." Paul grumbled when he saw their mate attempting to pull plates out for everyone. He descended upon her, took her squealing form into his arms, and sat them both down on the couch with her trapped on his lap.

"But I need to…" She argued, fighting with his left arm banded over her lower stomach. It looked like a kitten trying to stand up to a lion. Useless, but cute and somewhat funny.

"You need to sit still and let Jared get everything else we need. You've done more than enough already." As he collected several plates and handed them out he kept an eye on Bella. She was a little stiff in Paul's lap, but as his brother kept rubbing one of her arms with a hot palm he could see the tension melting away little by little.

"He's gonna try and feed her, isn't he?" Embry asked in a hushed tone so that Bella couldn't hear them even though they both knew Paul could.

"Yeah." He didn't doubt it. He and Paul hadn't been close friends before they shifted when they were still in school, but he still knew more about the other wolf than he was comfortable with. He was a clingy, controlling kind of male even before his wolf reared its muzzle into the picture. Ever since he'd been poorly contained. Now that Bella had been found she'd be lucky to keep _any_ independence in the face of Paul's possessive, wanting embrace.

He wasn't too dissimilar from Paul in the regards that he wanted to be near to his mate at all times, but Paul wanted her practically dependent upon him. He wanted her to need him for absolutely everything in order to make him feel like he was never going to be thrown away. Thrown away like his mom had done to him. Jared smirked a little knowing right away that Bella would fight Paul at times, but for the most part she'd see the need in him and them. She was that kind of person. Someone that automatically gave and gave to the people she cared about.

And the best part of it was that they'd make sure that she wouldn't be the only one giving in this relationship. She was going to be spoiled rotten whether she wanted to be or not.

He loaded up a plate for Paul and Bella to share from before handing it off to Paul. He, in turn, placed it on Bella's lap and steadfastly ignored her wiggling body on his. Jared considered it a success on her part that she was allowed to use her own fork instead of having it fed to her.

Then again her glare was kind of intimidating for being such a pipsqueak.

"Oh wow." Quil muttered with a full mouth as everyone settled down around where Bella sat in the living room. Mirrored exclamations of delight came from everyone thereafter.

"Well done, Bella." Billy chortled as he forked a healthy helping of potato into his mouth. The others barely spared him a glance as they shoveled her food in. "I haven't had chicken this good since your grandmother was around when Charlie and I were kids."

"Thanks." She flushed prettily as she continued to peck at her salad.

"I can't wait to have those brownies." Sam moaned pleasantly.

"Dude, I ain't gonna have room for dessert." Seth picked several more pieces of chicken out of the still fairly large pile on the kitchen counter. Bella snorted around a bite of chicken. They all knew that was bogus. They all had room for nearly unlimited amounts of food in their abyss-like stomachs.

Bella took in their compliments with embarrassed nods and even ate a slice of cake once the main meal had been diminished down to scraps. Embry elected himself to clean the dishes since she'd done all the cooking.

"Thank you, Embry." She grinned softly before hopping from Paul's lap to nab her backpack. She flicked through its depths for a minute before turning to the kitchen table with a folded piece of paper in hand.

"Yo, Jake." Paul jerked their attention as he stood and made his way towards the front door. "I'll take your shift tonight. Even a Prime needs a break once in a while."

"Thanks, man." Jacob jerked his head towards Quil, Seth, and Sam. "You three head out as well. There was something near the Eastern border by Bear Rock this morning. I couldn't place the scent. See if you have any luck."

Before leaving they all did an about-face to peck their distracted mate with a kiss to her temple or cheek. Jacob, too, kissed Bella's temple, thanked her for dinner, and stumbled off to his room to catch up on the sleep he'd been missing. He had been working on Bella's truck nearly non-stop. The others had taken over patrols so he could get the rust bucket up to snuff and he'd returned to his home only once to eat. The times he'd shifted were with the intention of keeping up with the protection of the tribe and Bella via mind-meld and stretching his furry legs. That was it. The poor Alpha needed a good night's sleep and none of them were going to deny him that right.

As Embry continued to scrub at the numerous dishes in the sink Jared took a free chair and slid it as close to Bella's side as he could get. She was nibbling her bottom lip and semi-glaring at the pamphlet she'd retrieved from her bag.

"What's that?" He inquired lightly of her as Billy flicked on the television in the living room.

"Something I'm considering." She pulled the pamphlet up a little so that he could peek at the title page. His brow crinkled a little. _A school in Port Angeles?_ "I'm pretty good in school, which I've told you all, but in Math I'm barely able to pull a passing grade every year. No matter what I do or who has tried to help me I just haven't been able to get it. My teacher, Mister Poole; he just gave me this today. He thinks they can help me out."

"You could ask Sam for help." He offered as he wrapped one of his hands around her nearest one to tug the pamphlet closer to him. His vision was beyond 20-20, but having the paper angled towards him kept him from having to strain over her to look. He wasn't Superman. He couldn't see through solid surfaces. "He's like a wiz in anything mathematical."

"I know, but I might need help he can't give me." The hand he didn't have in his hold rose to scratch the back of her neck. As her hair was displaced he got an even fresher whiff of her delicious scent. It made his pants tent…at least more than it normally was in her presence.

Anything about her gave him a seemingly irreversible erection.

"It's beyond difficult for me to learn about and retain information involving anything numerical. Sam knows Math, but he might not be what I need now. These people are trained to help kids like me."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart." He murmured, dropping his side of the pamphlet to run that same hand over her slender back. She looked too dejected for words. It tore at his gut worse than a bloodsucker trying to rip out his stomach. "Everyone needs help in something, usually multiple things. Math just happens to be your handicap."

He knew all about faults. He had enough of them. His parents held him to high standards. Impossible standards. They wanted him to be their perfect son. They wanted him to be perfect in everything. In a way he was glad that their standards only fell on him and not his little sister, but he mostly wished that they could just let him be himself. He wanted to be left in peace. He was twenty-two years old and he still hadn't been able to shake his parents completely from his back.

It was getting to the point that he was about to explode.

"I know. Just kinda sucks." She flipped the pamphlet over and groaned before pushing it away from her. The hint of despair and annoyance in her scent had both he and Embry stiffening automatically. Jacob's heart-beat picked up from his bedroom from the swift sleep he'd fallen into at Bella's agitation. His Alpha's feet hit the floor almost instantly.

"What's wrong with her?" His voice echoed easily to him and his brother, but their mate was oblivious. Her hearing wasn't that good.

He'd be listening in until they figured out what had ruffled her pretty little feathers.

"What's wrong, little one?" He reached out with his spare hand for the pamphlet only for Bella to move even faster than he could have anticipated. Her thin fingers clenched tightly around the shiny paper. She then retracted her hand to cuddle it to her chest like contraband.

"Nothing important. I just realized something I should have noticed from the start." When she attempted to rise from her seat, no doubt trying to hide the folded paper from them, Embry was standing in her only escape route…unless she was desperate enough to leap over the table. He didn't think she was.

"What is it, Isabella?" He reached for the paper again, but she just crumpled it tighter to her breasts. Her gaze shifted back to Embry standing over and behind her with his arms crossed over his chest. She sighed deeply.

"There's a fee for the school." She murmured, toddling adorably from foot to foot. "I didn't even think about that. I should have. I just have to go back to work for a while and I can withdraw from my account at the bank until I start earning again. Y-yeah, that's what I'll do."

"How much is this school, Bella?" He asked softly, nodding for Embry to back away once his hands were firmly in place upon her jean-clad hips. There would be no running away for her.

"I know what you're doing." She groused, eyeing him through her lashes. Even though she was standing up now while he sat directly in front of her she wasn't too much taller than he was. Her gaze was cast down on him for only a moment before she looked off at a nearby wall. A fishing program playing on the TV and Jacob's carefully controlled breathing acted as a background to his mate's erratic heartbeat. "You're trying to give me things. I don't want money or things. I made Jacob promise. You guys have given me enough already."

Jared cursed his Alpha then. He didn't like being cornered. He didn't like not being able to provide for his mate. It was his right and duty to provide and care for her. It wasn't just a wolf thing, though the wolf made that instinct stronger. The man in him had been raised to cherish the woman that belonged to him…bodily and otherwise.

_Damn. I'm more like Paul than I thought_.

He rose slowly to his feet, bent at the waist, and set his forehead to hers. He inhaled citrus and spice until he thought he might pass out from the euphoria assailing his body.

"My mate." The words fell reverently from his lips. Saying those words shook something deep down inside, deeper than even where his wolf resided. It made his gut churn. "I – we will do whatever it takes to make you happy. We only want your happiness."

Her eyes flicked to Embry quickly where he stood, an emotion flashing too quickly through her eyes and scent for him to decipher, before she cautiously raised her hands to knot them in his cropped black hair. His eyes widened a little as she arched up onto her toes to place a devastatingly tender, loving kiss to his lips.

He literally heard the seam in his jeans begin to tear as his rock-hard erection jerked towards where it knew her welcoming heat lay.

Her lips were as soft as flower petals on his. She pressed them three times over his thinner ones, enticing a groan from him from their sweetness. He didn't press her for more or try to take control because he couldn't. He physically could not do it. The kiss she gave him was enough to break his heart with its pure harmony and repair it ten times over. His knees actually quaked for half a second before he forcefully locked them in place. He hauled her into his chest with both hands, needing the closeness.

When she pulled away he whimpered uncontrollably. Her trembling hands slipped from his hair to scratch over his shoulders and settle on his pecs. He wished fervently that he'd worn a shirt to help him fight the temptation to take her right then and there. Her skin on his was causing him great strain…and if he was willing to admit it, pain.

"I know you do." Her voice was husky and drawled. His hands flexed on her back insentiently. "I really do, but to make me happiest you have to let me be. You have to let me run when I need to and take care of myself when I need to. It's not just something I want, Jared. It's something I _need_. Can you allow me that? Can you give me what I need most?"

In an instant he knew that he'd been felled. Even before she'd begun to speak and possibly even before her kiss he'd lost this battle with her. He couldn't say no to her. Not now. Not ever.

With that thought he rose to his full height after placing a kiss to her forehead. He gave her one more firm, yet gentle hug before setting her back away from him. Her eyes sparkled with flecks of gold as she looked up at him.

"Yes, my dearest mate, I can give that to you." He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek fondly. His stomach was in knots. His heart was stuttering with the impact of what she'd just done to him without even fully realizing it. He refused to believe that she knew what she was doing to him. "I will give you whatever you wish."

"Thank you." She bent forward to kiss the center of his chest before pulling away to gather her things. Embry was waiting for her silently by the sink. When he opened his arms for her she darted into them. Their embrace was no less impacting than their kiss had been. "Thank you all."

"Call us when you get home, sweetheart." He requested lightly as she gave Billy a one-armed hug on her way out. She nodded.

He and Embry followed her out as far as the porch. She boarded her revamped truck with a grace born of a Prima Ballerina and turned the engine over with a smile that could have brought down entire nations with its breathtaking beauty. He was forced to turn his head downwards to avoid embarrassing himself by begging her to stay. He listened to the truck fade in the distance. It was followed by a howl.

_Sam's got her tonight_. He thought.

"We're all doomed." Embry confided faintly. He didn't bother to look towards his brother. He knew what he'd see on his face because it was a mirror of his own. Dreamy wonder.

"I can't let her go. If the only way I can keep her is to share her with my brothers then I'll do it." His voice dropped with finality, his spine stiffening to the nth degree. "She's mine. _Ours_. And she's not leaving us. I won't let her."

"None of us will." Jacob confirmed with the same level of assuredness. He stepped out of the front doorway to stand beside them and stare off in the direction their precious mate had disappeared in.

"She'll stay and she'll be happy. That's all we need to know."

His Prime was right. Bella belonged with them and to them just as they belonged to her. She couldn't leave them. He couldn't let her. It would kill him if she even tried.

Because in that one freely given kiss he'd felt his heart wrap around her and pull her into his own being. He'd committed himself to her completely.

He, Jared Cameron, had fallen in love with Isabella Marie Swan.

_And so the second one falls_.

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy! How are you all doing? Here's the next chapter. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! It's nice to receive detailed reviews stating what you like and what you don't as well as your speculations. It's nice to know that I have such a wide fan-base as well. Please keep the reviews coming (they just make my day whether they're good or bad) and I hope y'all will continue to enjoy the story as it unfolds. Just know that everything is done for a reason in here. The beach party is coming up next!

As always, please keep the language clean towards each other if you leave a review (no telling another reader or myself to hock off or some-such nonsense). Can't wait for y'all to see the next chapter once I work it out and post it.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight!


	12. Chapter 12: Not Normal

*** There are new photos added on my profile for the story.**

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><p><strong>C<strong>**hapter Twelve: Not Normal**

Bella stumbled through the kitchen like a commonplace drunk as she tried to yank the Polo Ralph Lauren boots her mother had bought her months ago onto her feet*. They were flat soled and sprayed with a waterproof sealant so that the suede exterior and faux fur interior wouldn't soak through. Its coloring was almost exactly the same as the coat Paul had given her. The fur mimicked the silver fox fur while the suede was off-white.

"Why don't you wear sneakers, Bells?" Her father asked from where he was sipping at a cup of coffee against the kitchen counter. She frowned at him when she saw him trying to hide his amused smile behind the lip of the mug.

_Why does everyone find it so humorous when I'm on the brim? Does me cracking my head open over and over again really hold that much appeal?_

"Because it's cold out there and it'll be colder at the beach." She tugged the zipper up over her dark blue skinny jeans and immediately felt the snuggly warmth surrounding her feet. With the faux fur lining she didn't need her thicker socks to keep her feet toasty warm.

"I'm surprised the weather's held up this long." Charlie remarked disbelievingly as they both glanced out the window. The few bits of Sun yesterday had held up through today and intensified. There were very few clouds in the sky this Saturday. The only downside to having a day of Sun was that without the cloud cover to trap in any heat it was unusually cold. They were going to need that bonfire to keep warm.

"So am I, but its good. Cold is better than wet."

She was moving quickly since she was already late due to her alarm going off a half an hour later than she'd programmed it to. The others were supposed to be showing up in Ben's mother's van and Mike's Ford Focus in a few minutes. They'd be loading up the back of her truck with a large amount of their supplies so that everyone could sit comfortably in the cars instead of being packed in like sardines between the essentials.

"You sure you don't want to take some of the cookies with you to work, Dad?" She asked as she checked over the lids of the cookie containers to make sure they were secure. She hadn't made over ten batches of a dozen cookies just to have them have them tumble out of the back of her truck and be wasted. That was over one-hundred and twenty cookies!

_Nope. Nah-ah. Not gonna lose all that work_.

"I'm sure, Bells. I won't be there for long, anyway. Jack's got it for the rest of the day and Don's coming in early so I can catch a break." She smiled softly at her father. The man just worked too hard in her opinion. He deserved days like this where he could just take a breather. Forks may have been small and a fairly low-crime town, but he was still the Chief of Police and needed to handle most things himself. He was lucky that most of it was just minor vandalism or shoplifters.

"Are you going to order out?" She queried absently as she tallied all the different flavors in her head. _Chocolate chip. Peanut-butter fudge. Cherry-cheesecake. Pumpkin spice. Mandarin-Orange-Zest. Lemon. Sugar. Oatmeal raisin. Okay, we're good_.

"Nah. I'll just heat up some of your leftovers. I can't wait to eat more of that Veil Parm." His grumbling stomach seemed to verify that eagerness. She chuckled.

"Would you mind helping me get these containers out to the truck? I want to get them stuffed to the side before the others just start throwing stuff in the back."

"Sure thing, Bells."

Bella bypassed her coat for the moment, knowing that the cold air wouldn't kill her through the dark brown sweater with dual buckles she was wearing in the couple of minutes it would take to run in and out of the house.

As they loaded up the bed of her truck she caught a glimpse of something moving in the trees to her left, just barely out of her father's line of sight. Turning that way she could see the tail end of a sandy colored, bear sized wolf disappearing into the underbrush. She smirked widely when she heard '_Keep Your Hands to Yourself_' by The Calling echoing from the house almost immediately afterwards. It was her ringtone.

"You gonna get that?" He father inquired with his own grin.

"Nope." Cheerily she looked to the caller ID once they returned to the house, not surprised to see Jacob's name glaring back at her. She disconnected the call, typed in a few choice words, and sent a bulk text to the seven wolves of La Push.

_**Stay calm. Patience is a virtue**_.

Immediately thereafter she was replied to, the messages all variations of 'what the Hell do you think you're doing?'. Some were more or less polite than the others.

She didn't respond.

"I'll be gone for most of the day. I don't know if we're going to be there after dark or not." She was adjusting her top before throwing on the coat. She could hear the cars rolling up her driveway already.

"Do me a favor, Bella. If it gets to be dark before the party's done, stay in La Push for the night. Some of the townsfolk have been reporting bear recently. I don't want you out there, even in your truck, and having a sow trying to barrel you out of your car."

_Bear? More like mutant wolf_. She thought as she nodded and agreed with her father. She didn't think the guys would throw a fit if she had to stay the night with them. She'd be more prone to think that they wouldn't want her leaving at all. Any excuse they could get to have a sleepover they'd take.

A horn honked outside followed quickly afterwards by flamboyant laughter.

"They're here. See you later, Dad. I'll give you a call if I'm heading home or not." She moved to kiss her father goodbye on the cheek before hightailing it out front.

"Heya Bella!" Ben called cheerfully from where he was moving to the back hatch of the van. Mike was already looting through the back seat of his 2003 black Focus.

"Hey. Just bring everything over and I'll push it in."

Angela, Tyler, Mike, and Ben all worked as a team to bring the food stuffs for a beach party and blankets while Jess and Lauren babbled incessantly over how much fun they were going to have. Bella ignored their lazy behavior. It wasn't a surprise that they weren't joining in. She'd expected them to hang back and just watch. They were the 'I don't want to break a nail' kind of girls.

"We've gotta stop off at the school on the way. Some of the other kids couldn't get a ride." Ben told her as he shoved the gate back up into place for her. She nodded once before moving to the driver's side of her truck. "The cars'll be emptier on the way home since half the stuff we're bringing can just be tossed in the trash."

"Bella?" Angela was smiling cheerfully and gesturing towards the passenger side of her beast and baby. "Can I ride with you?"

"Yeah! Hop on in!" Genuinely excited now Bella hauled herself up into her baby. Angela followed on the other side. When she turned on the ignition the others portrayed pure surprise that the engine roared instead of choked. She laughed gaily.

"I told you someone was fixing it for me." She reiterated to Angela as the others shook off their shock and boarded their own vehicles.

"Yeah, you did. I guess I just expected it to still sound like it was on its last legs since the outside looks the same." Angela leaned forward to glance at the hood as if she could see through the metal to the engine underneath. "What'd they do to it and how much did it cost? It couldn't have been cheap. No offense, Bella, but your truck had one tire in the scrap heap."

She chuckled gleefully as she followed the others out of her driveway. For the second time she saw a tanish blur at the wood's edge.

_Stalker_.

"No offense taken. I'm about the only one that had faith in my baby."

"No. You _are_ the only one." They laughed together. "But now that it doesn't sound like a chain smoker without a respirator I might just join you in your faith."

"Much obliged."

At the school she and Angela hopped out to help two other girls, Nicole and Brigit, load a massive beach blanket and basket of hotdog rolls into the bed of the truck. The two girls and several others either hopped into Mike's Focus or Ben's van. A new girl at Forks, Larissa Grant, slid into the truck with her and Angela.

"How are you liking Forks, Larissa?" Angela asked as Bella followed at the rear of the pack towards First Beach.

"It's okay. Quieter than I'm used to." The new girl shrugged her shoulders lightly.

Larissa was a fairly tall girl at about five-foot-nine. Her skin was a shade paler than pure onyx and her eyes were a startling green. She had an ethereal beauty to her that was kind of distracting. She had an ovular face, high cheek bones, and almond shaped eyes. Her hair was braided tightly to her scalp in neat corn-rows. Her bowed lips were painted a pretty pale pink. Her curvy body was clothed in a goldenrod sweater topped by a brown tweed coat*, and black jean pants. Despite not being 'thin' her extra weight was distributed perfectly and made her look like a Grecian model. Full, but not fat.

She had come to Forks barely a day before Bella had come home from La Push. Like she had been Larissa was now the center of attention. Bella wasn't sure whether or not Larissa would side with Lauren and the other vindictive, popular girls or not. She dressed nicely, but she wasn't one to judge on first impressions. She'd give the girl a chance.

She'd dated a vampire and had an entire pack of shapeshifters after her as 'mate', after all. Who was she to judge?

"You came from New York City, right?" Bella shot towards her, her eyes constantly flicking back and forth in search of Seth's wolfy form. He seemed to be keeping to the shadows now.

"Yeah. My mom got called in to work at the hospital after that Cullen guy left." Angela stiffened and quickly grabbed Larissa's hand as if to tell her through physicality to hush. Bella just shook her head slowly.

"Don't worry, Ang. I'm okay. I promise." At Larissa's confused look she elaborated. "I used to date Carlisle Cullen's, the surgeon your mother replaced, son. His name is Edward. You'll hear a lot about him and his family, I think. We were close."

"What, uh, happened?"

"They moved." It was her turn to shrug. "It wasn't going to work out so we had to call it quits." It felt so wrong to phrase it like that, but it was the only way she could think of to avoid a boat-load of pity. She didn't want pity. What she'd had with Edward was special even if it hadn't ended so well and she didn't want anyone ruining that for her.

"I'm sorry."

"S'okay. My, uh, friends down in La Push have been helping me adjust. I stayed with them recently when I got sick." A genuine grin crept up on her as she jerked her chin forwards indicating the road ahead of them. "I think we'll be seeing them today, actually."

"Really?" Angela's excitement was clear. She may not have been in the swarm of girls looking to score with the La Push males that had been picking her up and dropping her off at school all week, but there was no denying their attractiveness. The fact that they were her friends only added to their appeal for Angela. She'd had unlimited amounts of questions ever since she got dropped off by Sam the Wednesday after Jacob had taken her car.

"I'm almost a hundred percent sure."

"Yes! I can't wait." Angela turned her attention to Larissa completely. For the first time she sounded like an over-excited school-girl instead of just being calmly interested or a shy wallflower. She couldn't help but think that Angela had an idea of what might be going on between them or at least know they were more than just mere friends. It heartened her to see that Angela didn't seem to care about her closeness to them…even if she didn't know the full extent of it…if any at all.

"You should see them!" She gushed to the other girl. "They're gorgeous! I mean these guys are the Tribal version of Chip-and-Dale's. I think they have tattoos! Plus they're super nice. Bella says so."

Larissa looked over Angela's jittery, bubbling body to glance momentarily at her before they both laughed at the effervescent teen between them. Angela pouted.

"I didn't say they were nice. I said they were good guys. If they're there and you see them, it would be fair to warn you that they might be a bit…cranky." Indifferent. Cranky. They were pretty much interchangeable.

"That's all right. They can't be much worse than the guys I used to hang out with at school back in the city. Gang-babies are a lot worse than anyone else I've ever met." She tossed several strands of braids over her shoulder distractedly. "And you can call me Issa. Everyone does. I don't really like my full name."

"Bella's got the same issue." Angela nudged her playfully.

"It's too long." She threw back in a mumble. "At least yours is only three syllables."

"Oh, girl, I think we're going to get along great!" Larissa cheered happily.

When Beyoncé's '_Single Ladies_' drifted through the speakers they reverted to wailing banshees, their laughs and cheers echoing all the way to the front of the conga line of cars.

_Yeah. They were going to be good friends_.

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><p>Bella, Issa, and Angela leapt from the cab of her truck once they'd come to a stop at the parking lot for First Beach. There were at least twelve vehicles filling the small space and all of them looked familiar. She cocked a brow at Angela as they tugged the tailgate down.<p>

"There's nearly half our class here. It's like an early Senior trip." She explained as the other kids who'd come up with them and didn't have anything to carry unloaded the truck bed.

"Some Senior trip." She joked as she handed the massive beach blanket back to Nicole and Brigit. "Other kids go to Hawaii or an amusement park at the very least…we come to the neighboring Reservation to hang at the beach."

She frowned deeply when she noticed Jessica and Lauren chatting again, but this time they were making their way down to the beach. Empty-handed.

"Jessica! Lauren!" She shouted brashly. The two girls instantly turned back towards where she stood fuming. "You two wanted to come? Fine, then you can help by at least taking one thing down to the beach."

"We didn't bring anything." Lauren sneered while looking back down the embankment to the beach below. No doubt she was planning to run away and contemplating ignoring her entirely. "Why should we have to carry stuff that isn't even ours?"

"You didn't drive yourselves, either." She retorted smartly, crossing her arms over her chest heavily. Her legs were split wide in a defensive stance. "Why should we bother driving you home since you didn't bring yourselves here?"

A full-blown smirk erupted on her face at Lauren's affronted gasp. It was only made wider and crueler when she saw the other girl's cheeks flaming red with rage.

"We didn't have to invite you, Bella." She challenged back as she stomped up towards the truck with Jessica tagging behind. At least Jess had the nerve to look ashamed of herself. Even if it wasn't real she could fake it.

"And I don't have to put up with your shit as much as I do, yet here we are." She was fed up with Lauren's Holier-than-thou attitude. If she wanted to _think_ that she was better than everyone else she didn't care, but the second she started _acting_ like it she was going to put her in her place. She'd been raised with the belief that demeaning people was wrong and Lauren had been stomping others in the mud for too long. Someone needed to push her off her high horse.

_Hopefully she breaks something in the fall_.

She grabbed the basket of rolls and chucked them at the bleach blonde. "Don't break a nail. You know that the nail salons aren't open again until Monday in Port Angeles." She was far gentler when she handed a rolled blanket to Jessica. Both girls turned on their heels and made their way down to the beach, Lauren grumbling all the way.

_Probably calling me a bitch. Oh well. Maybe she'll learn not to start a fight she can't win_.

"You go, girl." Issa whispered as more stuff was handed off to the few kids left in the parking lot.

"I'm not normally like that, I promise."

"You should be!" Angela giggled as she nabbed one side of a large cooler. She tugged it forcefully until it sat on the tailgate itself. "You've got a backbone. Show it. And by the way…I'm totally looking up at you for that."

"Thanks, Angela." She grinned, pulling the several containers of cookies towards her.

"Whoa!" Larissa exclaimed in a shocked whisper.

When she turned Bella felt her cheeks almost completely crack her face open with joy.

"Guys!" She shouted heartily. Unable to control the sudden urge she found herself running straight for them like a toddler to a parent holding her favorite cookie. She catapulted into Jacob's arms as if she hadn't seen him in several years instead of several hours. "I knew you'd come." She released on a hyper laugh.

Jake hugged her back tightly, her feet hanging high off the ground. She nuzzled her head into the side of his neck and waved towards the others behind him. It was the first time since she'd arrived at the Black house feeling like she was infected with the plague or during meals that everyone had been present. They all nodded to her with contentment shining in their eyes. Luckily they were all wearing at least semi-appropriate clothing so they didn't look like psychos for walking around the beach in just cut-offs.

"You should have told us you were coming, honey." Jake blew into her ear with his steamy hot breath. Her body shook with delighted trembles.

"It was a surprise." She enthused, wiggling her way out of his arms. "Now come meet my friends. Be nice."

"Always." She scowled at his smirk but went with it.

She pulled Jacob by the hand towards Angela and Larissa. Angela was beaming from ear to ear and nearly rivaled Alice for the giddy excitement award. She was in high spirits today. Larissa had her mouth practically unhinged and was gawking at the titans trailing after her. Bella was willing to bet that none of Issa's Gang-babies were anything like her wolves.

_Hmm. Mine_.

"Girls, these are my friends. This is Jacob Black…I think you might remember him from last year, Angela. And then there's Samuel Uley, Paul Lahote, Jared Cameron, Quil Ateara, Embry Call, and Seth Clearwater. Guys, these two girls are Angela Weber and Larissa Masterson. Larissa just moved here from New York City."

"It's nice to meet you both." Jacob inclined his head politely towards them. Bella didn't miss the shiver that ran up and down the other girls' spines. Apparently his voice did a number on other females as well.

"We'll grab this stuff for you, girls. You shouldn't have to do any of this labor." Seth squeezed between the two girls to heave the loaded ice-chest into his arms. Even she was mesmerized by the ripple of the muscles in his arms as he took on its inconsequential weight. Before they could regain their bearings the others had flocked around the bed to collect what little was left.

"Come on, ladies. I believe there's a party to get to." Jacob propelled her forward by an arm around her lower back while Sam, the only other not to have taken food or supplies into his possession, ushered Issa and Angela in the same fashion between them.

Angela squealed and ran forward to hold onto Bella's hand instead.

"A little jumpy, Angela?" Jake jested, his white teeth glinting prettily. Angela gulped and remained silent.

"Stop teasing her." Bella hissed, smacking the back of her free hand into the male's toned stomach. The sound was very similar to someone doing a belly-flop on water. He was as hard as steel. He leaned down to peck her quickly on the temple.

"Anything for you, little one."

"Oh hush."

As they neared the crowd of party-goers Bella felt the attention of everyone divert to them and their entrance. Seth, Paul, Jared, Quil, and Embry had moved ahead to deposit their load to where they were designated. Of the thirty or so girls on the beach, most all of them ogled the Natives unabashedly. A small coil of jealousy wound its way into her gut, but she kept herself from reacting outwardly in any way. They may have thought she belonged to them and she was growing extremely attached to them, but they weren't hers. Not technically. And she couldn't really have them, anyway.

They'd all just be hurt in the end if she gave into them.

"Everyone, these are good friends of mine." She addressed the crowd at large. The girls were drooling and the boys were either impressed or seething with envy. It made her smile. "They live here in La Push. There's Jake, Paul, Sam, Quil, Embry, Seth, and Jared." She figured they'd reintroduce themselves later if they deigned to talk to anyone else. She doubted they'd leave her alone much, anyway.

_Possessive, touchy lot of males they are_.

Bella chose to ignore the other Seniors for the moment as they either addressed or brushed past the Natives clustered around her in favor of surveying the beach. It was an hour before noon, but it looked like the beach had been prepped even earlier. There were collapsible lawn-chairs, blankets, and intricately placed logs all around five massive bonfires already ignited. Further down the beach a volleyball court was set up for later use. A grey tent had been set up with several tables loaded down with food underneath them. The sun was shining brightly down on them while the dark water crashed up onto the shore in a rhythmic, hypnotic beat.

"Come on, Bella." Angela tugged on her hand drawing her attention away from the scenery. "Let's go sit down. We've gotta catch up. Come with us, Issa."

Glancing back at the new girl, and new friend, hopefully, Bella had to cover her mouth with her hand to try and mask her giggle. Poor Larissa looked like she was about to have a conniption! Her face was screwed up somewhere between confusion, embarrassment, and downright female, wanton lust.

And Sam looked about twice as amused as she was.

"You guys are horrible." She complained before lunging for Larissa and pulling her out of Sam's loose hold. She knew that he had only kept ahold of her to fluster her the way that she clearly was.

"Oh my God." Larissa breathed out shakily, her right hand quivering as she swept her braids back out of her face. Her wide eyes smacked head-on with her own laughing brown ones. "They aren't normal!"

"They're not." She agreed with a slight skip to her step. They were moving towards the second-closest fire to the food tent. Several thick logs and six lawn-chairs or so circled the raging inferno. Blue flames danced over the moistened logs. "But you get used to them. They're good guys underneath all that muscle, so don't let it intimidate you too much."

"Awe, but Button, we're a breed above. Why do you want to tell these lovely ladies that we're not?" Paul was hot on their heels, no doubt swaggering.

"Did I forget to tell you to just ignore them? I do." She squealed when she was yanked up by her waist from behind. Several of her wolves chuckled while some of her fellow classmates looking on were grinning with mirth.

"Ignore us? Really, Bella, you should know better than that." Jacob apparently hadn't left her as she and the others were moving. He'd followed like a faithful puppy. His tone was full of jest, but she'd been around him long enough to read the huskiness to it. He was aroused.

And if the tone of his voice didn't give him away then the hard-on buried under the fly of his jeans pressing into her butt certainly did.

He carried her forward smoothly, not even jostling her, and then deposited her into a canvas folding chair so gently she'd have thought she'd morphed into spun glass. The others gathered around her in a tight circle with Larissa and Angela sitting to either side of her. Ben, Mike, Tyler, Jessica, and Lauren were also among the group clustered around their fire.

"So, uh, how long have you all been friends?" Mike asked as he bent forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It was supposed to be a posture designed to show strength, but mostly he looked nervous.

"Since I was four, I think." She jerked her right shoulder up and down once noncommittally. "I told you guys that my dad and Billy Black, Jacob's dad, have been friends since they were kids. Before I moved when I was ten I spent as much time in La Push as I did in Forks."

"We hadn't heard about them before this week much." Jessica inserted helpfully. Her face was a blend of bashfulness and desire. No doubt if she'd had a chance at them before she'd be humping them like a bitch in heat.

What female in her right mind wouldn't?

"Bella's been preoccupied." Embry spoke up from nearby, observing her intently. "We've only just had time to really catch up since she got sick."

"You mean since Edward ditched her." Lauren snarked so softly Bella almost didn't hear her…but she did and by the tension in the wolves she knew they had, too.

_Time to play Alpha female to these males, otherwise Lauren's gonna be bleeding out all over this beach. Well…that I'm done with her shit_.

"Do you have a problem with me, Lauren?" She demanded harshly, her hands fisted together in her lap to distract her and keep her from doing something she'd regret later. "Because I honestly don't remember doing anything to provoke you…unless you count getting the one man who turned you down time after time as provoking."

"Edward only went after you because you were something new here." Lauren sneered, her eyes hard and angry as they faced off. "And like all new things he got bored. Tossed you in the trash once he realized you'd outlived your novelty."

"So what does that say about you, Lauren?" She fired back, a smile evil enough to give Lucifer himself chills. "At least he wanted me. You were always used goods. Hand-me-downs. Leftovers. Someone's discarded trash no matter how long he looked at you. He never accepted you because he knew exactly what you were worth…and what you'd _always_ be worth."

"Bitch!" She screeched before leaping to her feet. She could see the wetness pooling in the other girl's eyes, but at that point she was beyond caring about her petty, self-absorbed emotions.

"No, Lauren, I'm not the bitch here. _You_ are. We don't get along and probably never will because you're too stuck up your own ass to see that there's other people around you that are just as deserving or more so of acknowledgement than you are. Once you realize that you're not God then I guarantee that life'll turn out a whole lot better for you."

Lauren's mouth gaped unattractively for several minutes before she huffed and stormed off dramatically. Jessica glanced briefly towards her, conflicted, before hustling off after her abused friend.

"That was kinda harsh, Bella." Tyler intoned distractedly. He was watching the two go with a slightly off-put look in his eyes.

"Maybe, but it was also the truth. I'm not going to put up with her shit anymore. She's had everyone kissing her ass for so long she thinks she's above everyone and everything else. It's better that she hears it now before she goes out into the real world and gets a reality check once it's too late." Her eyes drifted between Mike and Tyler quickly before she zoned in on the fire. "I'm not going to apologize. She'll either listen to me or not. That's her choice now."

Silence reigned for the longest time. Well…silence for her. The others took up conversation around her and at the other fires, but she couldn't make herself talk. Not now. Lauren had struck a nerve even if she hadn't shown it outwardly.

Even after all she'd been through with Edward, not even a year together, she still doubted what he'd seen in her. She was his _singer_. Her blood drew him to her like no other and a part of her wondered if, no matter what he'd said to the contrary, that was the reason he'd craved her presence as much as he had. He'd obviously fought it. Before this latest departure how many times had he pulled away from her and tried to withdraw from her completely? She'd lost count.

That hurt.

To think that he tolerated her presence simply because of her being his singer was sickening.

_No_, she remedied, _he grew to like me as a person. Maybe he even meant it when he said he loved me, but it wasn't enough. There was too much going against us. He craved my blood like a drug addict craved their next fix. I wanted him because he was the first guy to ever show me that level of devotion_.

It occurred to her just then that they had, in all likelihood, announced their love for each other as they had because it had felt like the sensible thing to call it…but it wasn't. They liked each other and longed for something deeper, so they'd jumped the gun and translated _want_ to _need_. She wouldn't say that she hadn't grown to love him and knew she still cared for him in some way, but it was heart-wrenching to think that she'd mistaken _a_ love with _true_ love. She loved Edward for what he gave her and what he stood for, but not for who he was.

_I loved the _idea_ of him. I didn't love _him.

"Fuck." She murmured, rising to her feet.

The wolves, her men, whipped their heads in her direction instantaneously. She saw their noses twitch as well and a frown pucker their brows. They smelled her distress.

"I'm just going to walk the beach for a bit. I'll be back."

She didn't bother seeing if any of them would follow her; she knew at least one of them would. She only hoped that it'd just be one. The others could eavesdrop later on her slight breakdown when they phased and joined in the 'collective', but right now she wanted to delude herself into thinking that only one of them would witness her shame.

She hurried down the beach, steadfastly ignoring the other students for the moment. The sand, mostly moist, hard, and composed of larger shells and rocks, cracked very little under her booted feet. For the most part the shuffling of the ground beneath her feet was drowned out by the waves breaking nearby.

Bella stumbled to a halt at least a mile down the beach from everyone else and was hidden for the most part by an outcropping of algae-covered boulders. There was a white-washed log that resembled bone from repetitive beatings from the waves pulled back along the cliff wall which she allowed herself to lean into heavily. She scrubbed her hands over her face and through her hair.

"I'm such an idiot." She groaned out loud even though no one would be around to hear her…except maybe one of the guys.

It sickened her to realize that deep down she'd known all along that she hadn't loved Edward _entirely_. She'd thought she had at the time, but being drawn out of the immediate fray and made to look at what they had from a bystander's point of view made her see the truth. It hurt to have Edward and his family leave the way that they did, but she'd recover. She could live without all of them. If she'd truly loved them, and Edward especially, then she'd never really get over them abandoning her. It would hurt now and in the future, but she'd be able to go on with her day-to-day life with a real smile on her face.

_If I'd loved them unconditionally it would all be fake. I'd be a zombie underneath all the sewed-on smiles when I was out here like this_.

"Bella?" The deep, sorrowful voice wrapped around her from behind.

"Hold me?" She questioned on a half-sob, her body shaking despite the warmth provided by her coat and boots.

In an instant she felt herself being hoisted up into Seth's thick, corded arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her hands behind his neck as he took a seat on the washed-up log. One of his hands cupped her butt cheeks to keep her steady while the other rubbed soothing circles into her back. The feeling was distorted by the fur coat, but pleasant nonetheless.

She hiccupped into his chosen deep blue t-shirt hidden beneath the fitted dark-brown leather jacket. A rhythmic croon, almost like a purr, poured from his chest as he rocked her lovingly. Her fingers clenched convulsively over his chest.

"Shh, babydoll." The words rumbled out as a growl in sync with the purr. "Shh."

Bella wasn't sure how long they sat there, him comforting her and she trying to regain some semblance of her normal self. In those long minutes all she knew was him. He was all she was aware of. His hot, large hand on her back. His hypnotizing voice. His chin rubbing into her scalp. His clay and chamomile scent drifting through her nose. It all worked together like her own private brand of Prozac.

"Don't leave me." She begged piteously. She felt him stiffen under her and could only curl up into him closer as a reflex. "Please. Don't leave me. I – I can't take it. I couldn't take it if you all left me. Not now." _Not ever_, her inner self supplied quietly.

"Hush now." The purr falling out from his chest was sending soothing vibrations through her smaller body. She felt like she was on the verge of falling asleep. "We're not going to leave you, Bella. _I'm_ not going to leave you. You'll never have to be alone again. Shh."

He continued to rock her even as the sun moved across the sky. It was just beginning its dip into the early afternoon when someone else joined them.

"Is she okay?" Jared's voice was caught between concern and pain.

"She will be." Seth assured the other wolf, his own words butterfly-wing soft. The hand he'd been rubbing her back with rose to skim the fingers under her jaw line. "Do you want to go back now, Bella?"

"Y – yeah." She sounded raspy. She cleared her throat. "Just give me a minute. Please."

"Anything you want, mate."

Bella pulled herself away from him slowly. Her feet were a little shaky on the sand once she'd set down, but when she thought she might stumble Jared braced her hips with his paws. She placed her own hands over his once she knew she was stable.

"I'm good."

"Are you?" Jared pressed verbally even though he slowly released her physically.

"Yeah. Lauren just made me grasp something I've let slide through my fingers too long." They both growled savagely at the mention of the bottle blonde.

"I don't like you being near that bitch. I wanted to fucking flay her for what she said to you." Jared complained, his eyes flashing that strangely seductive gold. So far she'd only ever seen that color when they were on the verge of losing control of their tempers…maybe. She knew she should be afraid of them when that happened. They could disembowel her with a single swipe of their wolfy claws, but she wasn't concerned. Every fiber of her being screamed that she was safe with these men.

That was another thing that stunned her!

Despite everything she'd told Edward about not being afraid of him or his family she'd been lying to some degree. She wasn't afraid that they'd kill her in their right minds, but who was to say that they wouldn't injure her in a moment of reckless behavior or after making a brash decision? She did fear them hurting her. All of them. It was proof enough on her birthday that a single knick on her skin could have any one of them on her faster than a jackrabbit in June.

But she was attracted to the La Push shapeshifters like a moth to a flame, change or no change. She knew they'd never hurt her, intentionally or not. She felt _safe_ with them.

"Come on. Let's get you back so you can eat." Seth nudged her forward with his hand at the small of her back. His heat radiated through his side and into her body like a compressed sauna. "Hopefully the others haven't opened up those cookies you brought. I want to try some."

"Try some?" Jared chuckled from her other side. "I want them all! Sweetheart, I don't want you feeding anyone else but us. All those sweets should be for us. You'll tell your friends to stay back so we can have them all to ourselves, won't you?" The way he waggled his eyebrows suggestively had her cheeks reddening and a giggle rising in her chest.

"No, Jared. You have to fend for yourself. The big, bad Seniors are your problem, not mine." On a whim she patted his rock solid stomach. "Besides, I think you need to work off some of that food you shovel in. It's starting to show." _Not!_

"Oh, Sweetheart, if I ever needed a work-out I'm sure it'll be more than just me sweating off the extra pounds." His tone had dropped a decibel going even huskier than normal. Staring at him wide-eyed she couldn't miss the glow from his eerie eyes.

_Ha-ah-ah. Oh my_. The inner her trembled with flustered desire. She was confused on whether she wanted to laugh in hysteria or start salivating. _I guess his eyes glow when he's horny, too_.

Seth growled. "Ease back, Jared. Not here. Not now."

_When?_ The confusion was entirely gone now. The slut sprung into action. _Oh, so help me, just tell me when and where and we can work-out all you want, big boy_.

_**Oh my God! Shut up! Shut up!**_

She squeaked unattractively before darting out of their arms much as Angela had with Sam earlier and ran headlong for the fires. Seth and Jared erupted in joyous laughter behind her at her chicken-shit action.

_Slather me in oil and roll me in a pile of feathers. I don't care. This chicken's gonna live to see another day with her dignity and virtue intact!_

She could see that at least thirty kids had assembled under and around the tent to collect the food laid out. The guys took up point around the tent as if standing sentinel. As one they turned their heads her way as she barreled up the beach before skidding to a stop between Angela and Larissa. The girls looked confused, even a little worried, at her harsh breathing while the wolves all smirked widely.

She was _sure_ that all men were assholes now!

"Are you okay?" Angela asked softly, her gaze assessing.

"Sure. Just thinking about some things. So what's to eat?"

As it turned out there was enough food to feed a third world country for a year. Okay, maybe not _that_ much, but there was quite a bit of food. There was everything from hotdogs to hamburgers, over a dozen different types of chips, an endless array of sodas, and too many desserts to count. She settled on a hotdog, which she mounted on a stick to roast over the fire, macaroni salad, and a slice of another girl's caramel apple spice cake.

_Ooh. I love having my taste-buds and sense of smell back._

Remarkably enough she still had the same seat that she'd occupied earlier. She wasn't sure if it was because the others had saved it for her or everyone was too preoccupied to bother taking it. She was more apt to believe that the guys had snarled at anyone that tried to take it away from her. They were essentially guard dogs, after all.

She set her plate on her seat before positioning the skewered hotdog just to the side of the flames so she could pivot and turn it to cook it through. When she was sure it wouldn't topple into the flames she grabbed the plate back up, took her seat, and set the food onto her lap. The others were gathering around as well, some of them setting their own hotdogs up near the bonfire. While she wasn't surprised by the sheer excess of food the wolves piled onto their own plates her fellow students seemed to be. It made her smile into her bite of macaroni salad.

"Dude, you know 'roids are bad for you, right?" Tyler gaped in amazement as Sam dished a healthy forkful of fruit salad into his mouth. He cocked a thick brow at the other, more 'normal' male.

"What makes you think I'm taking steroids?" He flexed his muscles tauntingly at the others around them. Quil and Jared snickered. Hostility towards the regular guys from her own set the hairs at the back of her neck standing.

"Well, uh, you're all, uh…" _Eloquent, Tyler. Very eloquent_.

"Ripped? Jacked?" Sam sipped at a Mountain Dew he'd pulled up from beside his feet on the cold ground. "It's a genetic trait. We don't do drugs. Actually, we'd be more likely to haul anyone to Charlie if we caught them taking anything like that."

"I remember you from last year." Mike jerked his head towards Jacob. There was open enmity in his gaze even though Jacob didn't respond in any way that could be considered violent or harsh. He just eyed the weaker male sedately. "You weren't this big."

"Growth spurt." Jake answered coolly as he bit into the turkey sandwich he'd assembled.

"Their genetic line is like the Samoans, Mike." Bella cut in easily, her tone betraying nothing whatsoever. Even if they thought the Quileute's were odd they'd never be able to guess what the truth was behind their genetic differentiation. "The Quileute can grow to be large for a male just like a lot of Samoan men can. They're like basketball players except with more bulk."

"Like a linebacker." Larissa mumbled and then promptly blushed when she and a few of the guys grinned at her. Her cheeks tinted to a dark ash color with the sudden rush of blood.

_Oh yeah. I _really_ like her!_

"So, um, Bella?" She grinned encouragingly at Issa. "Angela told me you moved a lot. Ever been to the city?"

"Yep. Me and my mom lived there for about three months in Queens. I didn't really like the city. It was too busy and loud for me. There are _way_ too many people around, too." She didn't startle at all when she felt Embry's hand resting on her knee in comfort. He'd no doubt seen her slight unease with this conversation. "You might get used to it around here. It's cold and wet most of the time, but for the most part the people are a lot more personable." She shot a pointed look to where Lauren was glaring at her from the bonfire over.

"I might." Issa shrugged elegantly. "I was born in a super-small town in upstate New York, but we moved to the city when I was six. I don't remember much about my life before subways and taxis were included."

"You won't find many taxis here." Angela piped up, pulling her hotdog away from the fire. She'd left hers to char. _Yuck_. "The only one we have is the local Cookie Cab in Forks. He only drives as far out as Port Angeles and his prices are ridiculous. If you don't have a license or a car you might wanna think about reconsidering that."

"Ang is right." Bella assured the other girl. "Even a fixer-upper that'll get you around town is better than nothing. Like I said, it's cold and raining most of the time. You really don't want to have to walk around every day."

"I've got it covered. I got my license as soon as I turned sixteen. Mom and Dad sprung for an older Jeep just before we came up here. It needed some work on the passenger side door and the trunk, but otherwise everything else is good on it. We're picking it up Monday from the body-shop."

"What kind of Jeep?" Jake queried.

"A 2007 Compass."

"Good SUV. I'd warn you to keep an eye on the acceleration. It's one of the most frequent complaints about that model and year. The lower control arm also has problems. That affects the suspension." Issa gave him a surprised look with a smidgen of confusion thrown in for good measure. His resulting chuckle warmed her. "I partially own and work at 'Windchaser Mechanics' here in La Push."

"You fixed Bella's truck, right?" Angela was vibrating with giddiness now. Yep. It was decided. Angela had somehow turned into the new, human Alice. Jacob nodded. "That's awesome! That thing was a piece of junk!"

"Hey!" She cried offendedly.

"Calm down, Bella. Your beast was on its last leg and you know it."

"It was not."

"It so was."

"You're just jealous."

"Pft! Yeah right!"

"Oh, stuff it."

"Eat me."

Both of them turned their attentions to the Quileute booming with laughter and the snickering Forks kids. Both of them flamed bright red when they realized they'd dissolved into childish mockery in front of an avid audience.

"Angela," Quil breathed out heavily, his chest shaking with his merriment, "feel free to hang out with Bella anytime. I would love to see you more often."

"I've been replaced!" Bella gasped in mock horror and fanned her heated face with her free hand. The other was trying to keep her plate from tumbling down into the sand. "Oh, the pain! The sheer agony!"

"I'll give you pain." Her hold on her plate entirely disappeared when she found herself upended. She squealed as she was plopped down onto Paul's lap. She felt his hands sneak under her coat before they clenched purposefully on her sides. Automatically she was struggling and crying mercy as he tickled the life out of her.

"Nah!" She gasped, kicking her feet at his shins and flinging her arms back and forth trying to find purchase on anything at all to get free. "N – no! No more!"

"Say you didn't mean it." He jeered, his hands still doing their dirty work on her sides.

"I – ah, ha ha – didn't mean it! L – let go! Let go! P – please!"

"As you wish." He was grinning, too. She could tell by the peace radiating off of him in waves. He moved her slowly to sit back in her seat once she could breathe normally again. She chanced a look at those around her.

The wolves seemed content, which wasn't all that much of a surprise to her. They fought, but when it came to her it appeared that her happiness affected and equaled their own. Angela and Larissa had girlish smiles on their faces. Angela radiated approval when she glanced between Paul and her…only Bella wondered how that approval would change once the truth came out. A few other girls at the same fire or nearby shared similarly pleased expressions. It was only the regular human males, Mike and Tyler included, that seemed unnerved. Ben was a bit better, but then again he had a claim laid on Angela and wasn't interested in anyone else.

_Thank God_.

Lauren was sneering, scowling, and practically glowing green and red like a bedecked Christmas tree. She was furious and jealous of her, something that made her exceedingly smug. She was determined now to push that girl off her damned high-horse. Even if Bella had to leave Washington in the end when everything came crashing down around them she'd be satisfied beyond words that Lauren finally got the hint that she wasn't everyone's dream. She was just another person out there in the big world.

"Do you want anything else to eat, Bella?" Quil's question pulled her out of her reverie. He was giving her a compassionate smile. "Since your plate ended up decorating the sand, I mean."

"Um, I wanted to try Sarah's caramel apple spice cake, but don't worry about…" It was too late. Quil was already off to retrieve her chosen slice of cake.

"Does anyone else want something? I need to grab some of Bella's cookies." Sam pointed a look to the humans gathered around the fire. Still, it was his brothers that piped in cheerily, uncaring that he had no intention of bringing _them_ anything.

"Yeah, grab the whole box of those orange citrus cookies." Paul patted his chiseled stomach as if there was a nice-sized potbelly there instead. "I wanna be so full I can't sit up once I'm done."

"No, get the chocolate chip. They're a classic." Seth rejected the idea in favor of his own.

"Dude, cherry cheesecake all the way!" Embry was pumping a fist in the air.

"Get your own food." Sam barked before stomping away, leaving them in his dust. Of course his brothers weren't the least bit bothered by the crankiness.

"Can I take one of them home with me?" Issa gave her the puppy-dog eyes. "I want one. They're just too adorable."

"Girl, we aren't adorable. We're manly men." Jacob actually acted a tab bit offended by her remark. He reached over to pat Bella's knee though he kept eye-contact with the new girl. "Besides, Bella here's got us on tight leashes. I don't think she'd like someone else taking us in as strays."

"Oh pooey." She booed good-naturedly.

"You can borrow him sometime if you want." She offered cheerily. The Alpha took his turn to pout. Coming from his hardened face it was almost frightening instead of cute. Almost. "He's a pain anyway. Seth's the only one with proper potty training and can sit on command. I'll keep him."

"Yes!" Setth hollered, his eyes twinkling.

_This is actually turning out to be a fun day!_ She thought passionately, her heart lightened by the easy way they all interacted. _Maybe, just maybe this can work_.

* * *

><p>Quil hunkered back into the overturned log the kids from Forks High had hauled up next to their chosen bonfire. He was sweating like a dog, pun intended, near the roaring flames with the long-sleeved black shirt he wore. It was always so uncomfortable walking around the Normals because he had to pretend to be just like them. It was difficult with a temp that averaged at about one-oh-eight. Lounging around on a windy beach in Washington during the fall wearing only a pair of cut-offs would probably have someone phoning the nearest asylum to have him committed.<p>

Unerringly he found his gaze drawn to the petite brunette he knew to be his mate. She was held comfortably in Seth's arms as they danced with many other couples further down the beach. Some kid had set up torches around the claimed 'dance floor' so that they knew where they were stepping. The water was out leaving a vast stretch of beach cleared. The Sun had set at least an hour prior, but no one seemed in the mood to leave.

Bella was speaking softly into the wind as her cheek lay against his youngest brother's pectorals. Her arms were pulled up behind his back to curl her pretty white nails just below his shoulder blades. His own hands cupped the back of her neck and her lower back tenderly. He'd pulled her up so that her weight was supported on his feet and he could sway softly with her to the orchestra playing through a nearby boombox. Seth's dazed, blissful look was replicated exactly on her own.

He could see from the crowd that they were all confused, some of them verging on annoyed or pissed. He could smell their agitation. It made his hackles rise to know that they were questioning and condemning his Bella because of how close she was to them. Seth wasn't the only one this night to get to hug her so close.

A tinkling, warm feeling trickled into his heart for a moment. It easily washed out his irascibility.

Bella had let something go sometime between last night and this morning when they'd met her at the parking lot. She greeted them in a way that showed that she felt the connection between them as well. She wasn't outright ignoring it or them anymore. She was giving in. Little by little she was falling to the imprint and to them. She played with them, hugged them, and just let them be with her. She was letting them try and love her the way that they needed to.

He knew she doubted anything between them could work. He smelled the sourness of guilt and depression in her scent whenever she thought about it. He could see why she doubted, too. The Normals didn't accept anyone or anything that was different from them. What his brothers, he, and Bella proposed was beyond taboo for the small-town people of Forks and La Push Washington. A part of him, loathe as he was to admit it, knew that she and them would be looked at with disgust and most likely shunned.

But no matter what happened to him or his brothers Quil knew that he could never let Bella go. None of the others could let her walk out of their lives, either. They wouldn't let her. She belonged _to_ them and was a part _of_ them. They wouldn't survive her departure.

It was a sobering thought.

He'd always dreamed of finding a woman for him. What man didn't? He'd devote himself to her and make her as happy as he possibly could, but while he knew he'd love the woman he'd choose to marry he had never imagined loving her so much that to not have her would amount to his own death. The wolf in him insured this even as the man fell in love with its mate in his own time. If he didn't have her in his life…

No, he wouldn't think about it.

Just thinking about Seth's call this morning set his heart thumping double-time. Not knowing where Bella was going and who it was she was with unnerved him. He'd shifted almost instantly after her flippant text. He'd needed to be closer to her and guard her. She couldn't leave him!

The others had joined him, their mind-voices spiraling into a realm of panic the likes of which none of them had ever experienced before. One's fear amplified the others. They'd made contingency plans in seconds. They'd devised ways of pulling her from her truck and sequestering her to the as-of-yet unfinished pack house. She would be unhurt. She would be safe. She would not leave them!

It had been a relief to find Bella's truck easing towards First Beach. Their minds calmed and slipped to something saner than they had been. They swiftly retreated to their homes to collect clothing appropriate for a bonfire with their mate and Normals and ran back as fast, which was praiseworthy, as their two legs could take them to First Beach. Free-running for them nearly tripled a normal person's speed while in wolf form they were even quicker. None of them wanted to be apart from Bella this day after the 'minimal' scare they'd had.

They all kept their noses perked, even let the wolves lay closer to the surface to help, for vamps. They really needed to have at least one of them on patrol, but none of them could be away from Bella at that point. They needed the assurances only her presence could bring.

Watching her dance with Seth and the others, after having his turn of course, he couldn't help but think about their future. He knew that someday he would relish in seeing her swelled with their seed while one or two of their pups ran around hog-wild. Not now, though. No, he wanted to have her beside him, under him, and above him. He wanted her attention to himself, only drawn away by his brothers. Truthfully he wanted her _all_ to himself, but it would hurt them all to keep her away from any one of them. He wanted to laugh with her, ease her sorrows, and be her world.

Spirits, how he wanted her!

He wished more than anything to have her tucked safely away in Lunar Cabin, all warm and snuggly. Given half the opportunity they'd be waiting on her hand and foot. She was an independent young woman, but he enjoyed babying her. He was beginning to crave it like a drug. If it made her sparkling teeth shine through or brought a welcoming blush to her cheeks he'd do _anything_ to keep that result there.

Her father, Charlie Swan, would be a tough bridge to cross in the road of getting her to live under their roof. It delighted him to see that the two had a strong bond, Bella being Daddy's Little Girl, but in time they'd have to show Charlie that Bella had new protectors just as worthy of her. He wouldn't be able to stay with her forever. They'd never try and separate the two, father-daughter bonds should never be broken, but both Bella and Charlie would have to come to see that _they_ were what were best for Bella. They would give her the world if she asked, but would also keep her safe and in line. Charlie just _had_ to see.

He didn't look forward to the day they'd have to start weaning the two apart with their knowledge of them doing so. It was just fortunate that they were already getting used to separation unknowingly since Bella had gotten ill. Charlie trusted others with his daughter to a certain extent. They could work off of that.

The song came to a slow, soothing end at that moment. His eyes glimmered as Seth bent forward to peck her gently on her temple before leading her back to the fire with a hand to her back. The gesture was telling. By leading her that way they were all staking a claim visually as well as guiding her and protecting her unguarded back.

"Did you have fun, Princess?" He asked as she neared. Her beatific grin greeted his words.

"I did. I'm no good at dancing, but you guys are great."

"We learned in Tribal School." He informed her. When he opened his arms to her, a blanket at the ready and warmed by his body heat, she shuffled away from Seth to sit between his raised knees. He draped the ends over her shoulders lightly swaddling her in the light material. Embry had allowed Larissa, Bella's new friend, to siphon his own warmth when she'd come off the dance floor only minutes before. Angela, the other friend, was dozing into her boyfriend Ben's chest. "It's a part of the curriculum passed down through the generations."

"Thanks for getting me out there." The dark-skinned bomb-shell spoke graciously. They all turned to her. "I haven't danced in a long time and it felt good to go back out there. I'm glad Bella's friends could suck it up and take me out there."

Quil genuinely liked this girl. While Bella was their imprint and owned them body, heart, and soul, this city-girl could easily become a friend of the pack. She and Bella obviously hit it off and if Bella hung out with her more than feisty Issa would become like a sister to them. Angela was a good girl and a good friend as far as he could tell, but something about Issa made him think big things were in store for that girl.

A fair portion of other Forks kids gathered around their bonfire with their chairs, logs, and blankets. Bella tapped energetically on his elevated knee.

"We're all going to tell stories."

"Sounds cool." He responded in kind, endeared by her childlike enthusiasm. At times like this he was tempted to brush his fingers across her buttery-smooth cheek or tickle her until she was panting for air. Her long hair he longed to have tickling his bare chest.

_Whoop. There goes the erection. Down boy. Heel!_

He banded his hands over her tiny waist as she leaned back into him, content to listen to the stories her classmates had to tell. Some of them he'd heard, some he hadn't. Many of them were just plain pathetic. They all ranged from scary to romantic. Most of the time he just tuned out and played with the bits of her hair that fell over her shoulders.

"Do you have a story, Bella?" His mate turned her attention to the boy, Mike. Quil fought back a snarl. He didn't like the little prick. He was releasing Normals pheromones, _aroused musk_, whenever he looked at Bella. He wanted to shift and disembowel the fool where he sat for simply thinking about _his_ mate let alone lusting after her. The only thing stopping him was knowing that he couldn't get away with it.

_Not _now_, anyway_. He added mentally, a sick thrill shooting through him at the thought of hanging the boy by his intestines when no one was looking.

"Uh…" She looked skyward for a dozen seconds or so before grinning at the group at large. She shifted more into him and he felt himself tucking her in more securely with the blanket. Sparing a glance at the others he could see the Forks kids frowning thoughtfully. Only the fact that Larissa was being warmed by Embry, a newly-claimed blanket over her own shoulders, kept them from becoming condemning again. He was thankful for it.

_Let them think we want Issa sexually. They have their own thoughts. They can keep them. Just so long as they keep off of Bella's case I don't give a shit._

"Y'all know Jack Frost, right?" Everyone nodded, giving a kind of 'duh' reaction. Bella chuckled. "I don't think you do. Once upon a time…" Several people laughed while others groaned. She laughed jollily again before waving her hand at them.

"Okay, okay. Real story…let's see. There once was a bitter woman forced to live life without her beloved husband on their moderate-sized farm. She was left with her own daughter as well as her husband's daughter from a previous wife to care for. The woman lazed about the house with her daughter, Lilan, complaining of her woes and heartache alongside her. She was a selfish, lazy woman, never content with what she had. She commanded the house-staff as if they were no more than bugs under her feet…and her stepdaughter was treated no better.

"The stepdaughter, Alba, did everything she possibly could to earn praise from her stepmother. Where Lilan was cherished by her mother and always complimented no matter what she did, Alba was scorned. Alba often found herself beaten by her stepmother for 'being such a burden'. Alba could never understand that the reason she could not please her stepmother was because she was more beautiful and kindhearted than the woman's horrid, spoiled, plain-Jane daughter, Lilan. The woman's hatred for her stepdaughter never once lessened.

"So, one day in the dead of winter, the woman pulled one of her household's servants, a loyal man to the family, aside and demanded he take Alba out into the cold and dump her in the thickest pile of snow he could find. She did not want to have to see or hear her stepdaughter ever again! He pleaded for her to reconsider, but had no choice but to do as he was ordered to see to his own family's continued survival. If he lost this job they would all freeze to death or starve when they were kicked off of the property.

"The man gathered the unfortunate girl onto a sled, attempting to wrap her in a light blanket to stave off the cold if only for a moment, but it was cruelly ripped away by Lilan. The snotty girl cursed the man, ordering him to do as he was told and leave the other girl to suffer. Crestfallen, the man drove the sled from the farm and out into a far-away field. There he set the girl down as tenderly as he could, kissed her forehead begging forgiveness, and driving off so as to avoid having to see the poor girl die.

"Alba sat where she was put, shivering and crying from the cold. She did not move because she knew that she had nowhere to go. She looked up through the snow and ice-covered trees for the longest time before the sound of tinkling bells caught her attention.

"There in the woods was a man. He was a pale sort of fellow, his skin bluish in tint. His nose glowed a bright red from the cold. He wore around him a silver fox-fur coat with matching stocking cap. He whistled a merry tune as he made his way directly towards the young girl. Upon closer inspection she could see that his skin was made up of crystalized snowflakes and his eyes glowed icy blue. Diamonds and pearls disguised as ice and snow decorated his body and clothing like a veil.

"'Pretty little girl, I am Jack Frost.' He said in his lilting voice. 'I bring winter wherever I go.' The girl smiled up at the man, her lips cracking a little from the bitter winds chapping them. 'Hello Jack Frost! I suppose you have come to take me away to Heaven. I understand, but it is a shame. The day is so nice. The snow is so bright and clear and the ice sparkles like diamonds. You surely are a marvelous creature to bring such beauty.'"

"Stunned by her magnanimity, Jack Frost smiled. He reached into his coat and pulled from it a smaller one and threw it to the young girl. She wrapped the white fur around herself and savored the warmth. Jack Frost disappeared the way he had come, again whistling his merry tune. When he returned he bore a large chest and a cloak of diamonds and pearls draped across it. He bid her to don the cloak. She did so, sat upon the chest he offered, and watched in delight as the man danced and sang for her entertainment."

Quil looked around the crowd again, noticing that almost everyone looked genuinely interested in the sorted tale. His brothers were all beaming encouragingly. He, too, felt his own support for her. He could hear the ease and joy in which she spoke and knew that she liked telling stories. She thrived off of them, it seemed.

_Maybe she can give Embry some inspiration?_

"Back on the farm the stepmother called the servant man to her. She ordered him back to the place he'd dumped her stepdaughter to collect the body so that they could bury it…she did not wish a spirit visited upon her because she did not send the girl off. The man did as he was bid, surprised beyond measure when he came upon the field he'd placed Alba in to find her giggling and humming a happy melody. Not knowing what else to do he brought the girl home with her chest and clothing.

"The woman was livid to see the girl alive, but when she moved to strangle the girl for her impudence she saw the chest and fancy coverings. She pushed the young girl aside and opened the chest to find it filled to bursting with the rarest of jewels and finely made clothing. She demanded to know what happened. Alba told her tale and the woman, being greedy, demanded that the servant man take her _own_ daughter out so that she may receive such wonderful gifts. She was certain her daughter, far better in all things than Alba, could acquire more from Jack Frost.

"And so the man took Lilan out into the same field he had once left Alba and abandoned her there. Lilan waited and waited, growing more and more agitated as time went on. Just when she was about to curse her mother high and low she saw a cheery man skipping towards her, a jaunty tune slipping from his lips.

"'Little girl, I am Jack Frost. I bring winter wherever I go.' He said. Lilan huffed indignantly. 'Well, when you have given me my gifts as you have my stepsister you may go…and take this dreadful winter with you! It is ugly and cold! Where is my treasure?' She screeched, her eyes shining accusingly at the pale man. Jack Frost smiled, this time with a chill that rivaled the cold that followed in his wake.

"'Little girl, I am Jack Frost…and here is your gift of diamonds, pearls, and silver.' The pale man reached forward with a single hand towards the young Lilan, his once happy tune echoing ominously though the forest.

"By the time the man servant had returned to the farm with the favorite daughter the woman was pacing and agitated. Upon hearing the sled she rushed outside to see her daughter lying in the back of the sled with a plain silk cloak thrown over her still form. 'Get up you silly child,' she scolded. 'It is warm enough inside. What have you brought home for us?' The woman pulled the cloak from her daughter's form only to scream in terror.

"Her daughter lay as dead as a tree felled in the forest, ice and snow clinging to her skin and hair as if made of pearl and diamonds. Her face was contorted in a final gasp of ugly fear, her lips parted only slightly. As the woman screamed, promising vengeance on the horrid, wretched girl remaining in the house, a clouded breath eased from her dead daughter's lips and surrounded the woman. The woman's screeching ceased as quickly as it had begun as she found Hell's Winter claiming her body and dragging her to Death's door along with her spoiled daughter

"Little Alba remained the new mistress of her family's farm while the man servant passed the story on of Jack Frost and his Hell's Winter in her service for the rest of his natural life."

By the end of her story, Quil could feel her sudden stiffness. Many of the other students congratulated her on the wonderful story, but she didn't seem to hear them. Her focus was entirely on the twat, Lauren. Lauren was grinding her teeth staring back at his mate. There was no love lost between those two.

"Easy." He murmured into her ear, rubbing his hands up and down her sides slowly, gently, in a soothing pattern. She may have been trying to teach Lauren a lesson, but he really didn't want them starting a fight. He knew she could defend herself and most likely hand the other girl's ass to her on a silver platter, she was the Chief's daughter after all, but he didn't think he could stand aside and merely watch her in such a situation. He'd be hard-pressed not to shift and bite Lauren's head from her body for daring to challenge his mate.

"M'kay." She assured him, her voice airy and light. He inhaled her scent calming himself.

They laid back and listened to several more stories being passed around. Some people wandered off to get what was left of the food, his brothers among them. Bella's cookies had been one of the first things to disappear from the tables. He was one of the ones at fault for that. His mate knew how to bake! He couldn't keep his hands out of the cookie jar...literally.

Bella dozed in his arms, her head and right cheek pillowed on his chest. She stirred several times when his brothers spoke or someone got exceptionally loud. He wanted to snarl at the ones that were loud. They were startling her and he didn't like it.

Near midnight everyone was beginning to pack up. Bella patted the back of the hand resting just below her left breast. His head angled downward to see her looking up at him with half-lidded eyes.

"I's late. Can I stay 'ere?" A growling purr erupted from him at her meekness. He felt the urge to just bundle her up and carry her home like a kitten he found in a puddle out in the rain. She radiated frailty and cuteness. He'd cuddle her until she melded into him if it were physically possible.

"Of course, Princess." He turned his gaze up to see his Prime nodding his ascent.

Embry shook Larissa gently awake by her shoulder. "Do you have a ride home, Issa?" The girl nodded jerkily at him before rising and stretching out her body. She was taller than Bella by a few inches, but pleasantly plumped. Her size was perfect for her frame.

"Bella brought a lot of the stuff in her truck and most of its getting tossed in the trash now. That means there'll be room in the back of Mike's or Ben's van." The accent in her voice, maybe a Jersey one, made him smile. She'd certainly stick out in these towns.

"If you need a ride I'm sure one of us can drop you off at home." Jacob assured her, obviously feeling that 'connection' with Larissa as well. Not imprint/mate, not nearly as strong as their shifter-bond, but still something beyond just liking. It'd eat at him until he figured out what it was.

Isaa waved her darkened hand at them in dismissal. "I'm good."

Quil kept Bella pinned between his legs when she roused herself enough to attempt to aid in the clean-up. Paul did essentially the same thing with Issa keeping the two women between them so that the others could take care of everything. Both of them, in their minds at least, didn't need to be doing manual labor in the middle of the night, especially when they were tired. They could handle that with the other kids, lazy punks be-damned. Only a few things, like Bella's cookie containers, were non-disposable so most of all the cars present were emptied out with the exception of folding chairs and blankets.

Only once everything was gathered did he and Paul allow the girls to stand and move up to the parking lot. Quil had to bracket Bella carefully because in her drowsy state she was wobbling unsteadily. Larissa, too, was a little off-center, but found Bella's stupor hilarious. His mate was scowling at the taller girl.

"Oh, can it you nit." She growled, shoving Issa with one hand only to teeter over the precipice of disaster. She '_whoo'd_' once before she managed to gain her footing again. He silently commended her ability to remain verticle.

"Whatever…Verruca!" Issa chortled.

"But I want it now!" Bella needled in a nasally voice that was completely unattractive. Both girls looked at each other before erupting in spine-cracking laughter.

"Oooo-kay! Time for you two to go to bed." Jared cut up between the two and directed Larissa towards Ben's van. It was obvious that the two girls acted like happy drunks when tired. "Say goodnight girls."

"Goodnight girls!" They cheered at the same time.

Quil held Bella to his chest with one arm watching the Forks kids disappear car by car until only he, his imprint, and his brothers were left. They all stared down at her tired form at the same time and she giggled sleepily.

"That was fun."

"Yes it was." He agreed as he tugged her up into his arms so that her legs wrapped around his waist while her arms hugged his neck. Her cooler, yet still warm breath brushed across his neck.

"Thank you guys."

When she kissed his neck with her petal-soft lips he nearly buckled.

"Go to sleep, Bella. We'll get you home."

"M'kay."

As they moved as one unit towards her truck Bella nuzzled her head into his neck again. Her limbs flexed around him slightly and she sighed. The next words that fell from her lips drew them all to a complete standstill and he felt his chest swell with awareness and pride as much they made him fall into her for support. His heart spluttered.

"Love y'guys."

His hands trembled where they held her to him. His lips touched her jawline where he could reach sweetly, longingly. The others purred around him at the admission.

"Love you, too, mate. So much." And he meant it.

_Now to see if we can get her to say it consciously…_

_I'll look forward to the challenge_.

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><p><strong><span>Notes<span>:** Howdy. Here it is. The bonfire party everyone was so anxious for. Might be a bit of a let-down for those of you that were expecting fireworks, but hopefully it's still good enough. Please remember that everything I put into this story has a reason behind it…you just might not get to see why until much later. Also, if you noticed the *s then that means I added more pics to my profile link for this story.

Oh, you should also know that the '_Jack Frost_' story was an adaptation of a tale from Russian folklore and another book I read as a little kid in a 'Scary Stories' book. I changed it slightly, but it is NOT my story!

And don't start throwing the whip at me, but I might be going back to updating every 4 – 6 weeks (I never said that I had stopped that scheduling) because of an overflow at my workplace that I have to take care of. You might see a new chapter within a 2 week period, but you may not. I'm just asking that you don't snarl at me if I can't.

**ALERT! NONE OF THE GUYS IMPRINTED ON LARISSA! THERE'S ANOTHER REASON SHE'S IN THE STORY! REPEAT...GUYS DID NOT IMPRINT AND WILL NOT MATE WITH LARISSA!**

As always, review at your leisure. I look forward to all reviews, good, bad, long, or short. Just keep it clean towards each other, please. Hope to keep hearing from you all!

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	13. Chapter 13: A Glimpse of Home

***There are photo updates on my page for this chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen: A Glimpse of Home<strong>

Bella swatted her hand at the tickling mass just below her nose with an audible snarl. Somewhere nearby someone chuckled. It was a deep-throated sound that would have ruffled her feathers more if she were more awake than she was. Satisfied when the irritant disappeared she felt herself slipping back into the wonderful world of sleep.

Her enjoyment was short-lived.

The mass returned, this time tickling under her nose before trailing over her cheek to her ear. The sound she emitted when she smacked the thing away this time could have frightened a starving African lion. She was not a morning person, damn it!

"Go 'way." She demanded sluggishly as she rolled in the furry cocoon she was immersed in.

_Huh? Furry?_ Blearily she peaked her eyes open even as her hands skimmed across the mostly silky, but outwardly coarse fur. Russet colored fur was almost everywhere she could see. Her fingers were buried into what she thought was a chest. A heart beat and pumped heavily against her palms even as the creature vibrated with the growling purr falling from its maw.

"Jake?" She wondered aloud.

"Got it in one." Sam's voice assured her from behind. She rolled as much as she could, only just realizing that a paw the size of her entire abdomen was draped over her waist keeping her secured to the alpha wolf, and saw the other male leaning against the door jamb.

"What's going on?" Her voice was still sleep-raddled, but things were clearing a bit in her head.

"We're waking you up. We told you we had something to show you today." His head jerked a little towards the wolf lounging above and behind her. "Jake moved his bed out a few days ago and we didn't want you sleeping on the floor or couch. Consider him your personal body pillow."

Jake snarled a little towards the other male, but Sam only smiled broadly. "Don't get mad at me, Jake. You know you love it."

Bella eeped a little as she was tugged closer to the wolf's chest. As her face sunk into the fur she released a groan at the strength of his scent in this form. It was always haze-inducing, but with him like this it was intensified ten-fold. Her fingers pulled at the fur harshly. Jacob released a wolfy grunt.

"You smell so good." She complimented with a moan, unconsciously rubbing herself into his heat. She couldn't stop herself. His scent, any of their scents, was like an aphrodisiac to her. That sweet spot between her legs throbbed and wetted whenever she smelled them. A part of her knew that if she wasn't just coming out of a hard sleep she wouldn't be allowing herself to do this, but her lusty-self was kicking commonsense's ass. All she really cared about at that moment was getting closer to the one emitting that drool-worthy scent.

"Ah-ah. No, Bella." She whined loudly when she felt two firm hands tugging her away from the wolf by the undersides of her arms. Her hands clenched on the wolf's fur, but her grip wasn't strong enough to keep her where she wanted to be. "Calm down. You can't have Jacob when you're like this."

"Frickin' mean." She complained as Sam swung her up into his arms bridal style. Her gaze remained transfixed on Jacob as he remained laying down on the ground. His goldenrod eyes stared straight back at her, his lids hooded. He was massive even stretched out on the ground as he was. If he was standing up the top of her head would barely meet the tips of his shoulders. He took up a fair portion of the small room.

"Hi." She whispered with a goofy smile on her face. She set her cheek against Sam's shirtless chest and waved her fingers softly.

Jacob chuffed.

"Come on, Angel. Let's go get you ready." Sam's voice carried down to her even as he pivoted on his heels to exit the room. No doubt he was giving his Prime a chance to shift and throw on at least a pair of cutoffs. Clothes didn't phase in and out with them, after all.

"Where we goin'?" She asked only half-caring about the response. She was drifting off again.

"First stop's the bathroom. I ran you a bath and I want to get you into it before it goes cold. After that we'll feed you and then take you to see what we wanted to show you when you turned it down to go to that bonfire yesterday."

"Can I jus' stay in bed?" She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to! She wanted to curl back up on the floor with her wolfen buddy and go back to sleep until it was _her_ body that said it was time to wake up to the real world.

It wasn't too much of a surprise that the stinkers wouldn't let her have her way.

"No, Angel. We'll let you sleep in all you want whenever you want after today. Promise." He maneuvered one arm upward enough that he could bend his head forward to kiss her forehead. She turned away from it childishly. He nuzzled her temple with a chuckle. "You're cranky right now. Once you have your bath you'll be better."

"I'm not cranky." She grumbled petulantly.

"Whatever you say, Bella."

Sam maneuvered her effortlessly into the small bathroom and sat her down onto the closed toilet seat. He combed his fingers several times through her hair as if he was working the knots out of it. He knocked her chin gently with a crooked finger when she began to droop.

"Do you need me to stay and get you undressed for your bath or are you going to be a good girl and get in on your own?" The intensity in his stare gave her the proof she needed that he meant business. So she sighed.

"I'll do it. Just go, please." She looked down only just noticing that she was still wearing her clothes from the beach minus her boots and coat. Thankfulness assailed her when she realized that they hadn't changed her out of her clothes while she slept…and was pleased that she'd chosen a sports bra instead of one with an underwire yesterday otherwise sleeping would have been uncomfortable for her no matter how she lay down.

She bit her lip as Sam motioned to a neatly folded brown shirt on the sink. "Wear this. It'll be like a dress on you, but at least the top's clean. We'd give you pants, too, if we thought they'd stay up. Once you're changed out set your clothes outside the door. We'll run them through the washer."

"Thank you." She whispered in slight embarrassment. How in the world could they be so good at taking care of someone? Was there a training class for men out there somewhere that women didn't know about? Bella was certain that if women figured out about a class like that that they'd be enrolling their men into it with or without their willingness.

"Enjoy your bath, babygirl." His warm lips were tender on her forehead as he backed out of the room closing the door behind him.

Bella released a sigh before standing on only slightly jellied legs. She couldn't really deny that she was a horrible person to be around when she was waking up or going to sleep. She was a little surprised that the guys even tolerated it. She suspected it had something to do with the fact that they found her kittenish fury nothing short of adorable. No big surprise there. She really couldn't do anything worthwhile to harm them, anyway.

So it was with a jaw-cracking yawn that she stretched languorously and pulled her clothes from her body. She kept only her panties, a pair of navy-blue and turquois hipsters, in the bathroom with her and the loaned t-shirt while the others she dumped out into the hallway by the slender crack she made in the doorway.

When she came back to the tub she was startled to find full bottles of her normal bathing supplies tucked neatly off to the side on the corner-lip of the tub. They had the exact brand and formula she used for her shampoo and conditioner and her favorite scent of body wash along with a razor and washcloth. On the small shelf space behind the sink there was a tube of her preferred toothpaste and a soft bristle toothbrush still in its wrapper. Right next to those was a bottle of her odorless lotion.

_They remembered?_ She wondered to herself with disbelief coloring her thoughts. Only the visual proof kept her from gaping like a fish…well, it kept her from gaping _too_ much. Bella shook her head firmly to clear her mind of what she'd found and the connotations that went along with them doing so.

The bath water, to her complete elation, was nearly hot enough to be uncomfortably scalding for most people. She _loved_ extra hot water. She suspected it came from the fact that her body ran at nearly two and a half degrees below other peoples' body temperatures. The cold sucked. It was why she was addicted to microfiber blankets or pajamas. They were super soft, another weakness, and plenty warm. She didn't know if Sam had run the water as hot as he had on purpose or if he just couldn't tell with his higher body temperature. All she knew was that she was thankful for it.

She wallowed in the blissful heat and allowed the steam to sooth her lungs. Her cold or flu or whatever it had been was all but gone now. She only occasionally felt raspy in the mornings when she woke up.

Spooning a dollop of body wash into the washcloth she began to scrub it into her arms and legs methodically, slowing down to savor the feeling of it over her stomach, chest, and neck. She was one of the lucky few people in the world that didn't suffer very much at all from acne. She'd had a few whiteheads throughout puberty and knew she'd probably get them until menopause and beyond, but she'd never had an outbreak. It was a hereditary gene she thanked the Heavens for every day. She may not have been a looker, but she had smooth skin.

Her mind travelled as she washed up.

She thought about the guys and her time spent with them. She also contemplated the emotions they were stirring in her. It was heady and sobering all at once.

For the entire duration of her stay in this house while she was ill she was ornery, obstinate, and overly tired. No, that wasn't quite true. There'd been times when she was more herself; shy, but sort of talkative and playful. She'd been gearing up to leave as much as she'd been eager to stay. The guys drove her as mad as a hatter, but also made her feel so special that she didn't want to walk out of their shadows. She wanted to be with them despite how crazy they made her and make them smile at her.

That was a new feeling entirely for her.

With Edward she wanted to be with him more for what he could give her, what little he actually gave her, affection-wise. She garnered his attention and guarded it jealously. She thirsted and longed for it as much as he lusted after her blood. If they made each other happy it was a side effect, good though it may have been, of their own selfish desires. She preferred to please him, but she didn't go out of her way to do it.

With the wolves all she seemed to want to do was make them happy…even if she wasn't currently acting on those desires. She was afraid to. She was afraid to give fully into what they proposed because she didn't want to be hurt even more than she knew she already was going to be when they got slapped in the faces by reality. When she had to leave, and she knew she had to when the time came no matter how much she didn't want to, she was going to feel like she'd been dismembered and probably wouldn't be able to pull everything back together again. The boys, _her_ boys, had dug down deep into her skin already and she would never be able to pull them out without doing irreparable damage.

They had their tender hooks in her and they weren't budging.

It disturbed her in some ways how easy it was for her to fall into any one of them. They were a lot alike in some ways, but their personalities ranged so much! It was almost like all of them together made up the perfect whole and that without one of them then they would never be 'perfect'. They were all so strong and steady, physically and otherwise. Standing among them, the top of her head barely even brushing their collar bones, she felt so delicate, small, and feminine. With them touching her, making those primal noises, and easily taking control of both her and outside situations she felt like she could just lay back and allow life to move around her. She felt very strongly that with them she could be herself, be independent when she felt she needed to be and cuddle into them submissively when she wanted to, and everything would just turn out right around her because they were there to make it so.

She sighed, slathering shampoo into her hair as she juggled the emotions she was feeling around. She wasn't used to being doted on. She wasn't used to handing over the reins and letting someone else, especially someone who wasn't blood related and was a male, take care of her and the things around her. She'd taken care of her mother since her parents split and had taken on a hefty weight even before her mother had taken her from her father in Forks. With her father at work constantly and her mother more willing to develop and abandon hobbies on a whim she'd picked up the ability to cook and clean almost as easily as she'd learned to walk. Sure she was a klutz, but that was beyond the point.

It felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest when the guys, all of them, took control for her. If she dared to call it that she might even go as far as saying it was therapeutic. She suspected that she only fought them as much as she did because she was so used to having to do everything herself and having no one to help her even if she asked that it had become a knee-jerk reaction to say 'no'. She could get better in time, she knew that, but she also knew that she'd never truly stop being self-reliant.

_Would it be so bad to let them take some of the burden off my shoulders?_ She wondered. _They can take on what I can't and may not want to take on. They can give me the space I need to do my thing, but can be at the ready if I ever call out under the stress of everything._

The thought that someone might be there for her unconditionally gave her a funny feeling inside. It felt…good. She knew that she could give unconditionally and usually did to those she loved, but she'd nearly lost hope that anyone could do the same for her. It was heartening to think that just maybe she wasn't going to have to go it alone anymore.

The only rub in the whole situation was that she'd have give herself over to them. She'd have to fully trust them…and love them.

She didn't know if she could put that much of herself at stake.

_You already have_. A soft, almost lamenting voice deep down in her subconscious spoke the words ominously in her ear. She brutally beat it back, unwilling to admit to that. Not yet.

Bella groaned as she tipped her head back to rinse the conditioner from her lathered head. She only knew she was onto the conditioner because of the silky-softness of her now darkened locks. It seemed that her body was working on autopilot while she pondered her situation.

Her hand grabbed for the disposable razor even as she raised her dampened leg to the forward lip of the tub for better access.

All of this, she decided, was just so complicated. Why couldn't she have been a normal girl with normal friends? When had she become a supernatural magnet besides being a klutz? Maybe it came with the territory? Or had it just been her 'time'? It seemed like nothing abnormal had happened to her until she'd moved back to Forks to be with her father and met the Cullen family.

_No, that's not right_. She amended silently. _Jacob, Quil, Embry, and the others were_ always _different. They just hadn't shifted when we were little. They were supernaturals in disguise._

_So I guess my life has never really been completely normal._

Puffing out a finalizing breath, Bella tossed the razor back to its place beside her other bathing supplies and stood wringing the water from her hair. She was done thinking about it for now. She'd only end up stressing herself out too much. She was kind of surprised none of them barged in while she was bathing, she hadn't locked the door anyway, due to her changing moods. She'd been everything but calm during her bath and from past experience she knew that they came running to the scent of her frayed emotions.

Fresh towels sat on the tank of the toilet seat. One she scrubbed through her hair quickly before wrapping it in a turban-style to soak up most of the leftover moisture. Her toe kicked the plug out of the drain in the tub so that the now cooling water could seep out. As it drained she picked up the other towel, stepped out of the well-used tub, and rubbed herself dry.

When she was sure that she wasn't going to end up getting her two pieces of clothing wet she pulled them on. The neck-hole of the shirt, a dark brown graphic from WhiteTag, was easily large enough to maneuver the towel wrapped around her head through without stretching or ripping a seam. It hung loosely to her knees. She tugged her panties back on under the billowing fabric, trying all the while to think of the shirt as an oversized dress.

She quickly brushed her teeth, even knowing she was going to be eating as soon as she got out of the bathroom, before plunking down onto the toilet seat to rub the lotion into her legs. It kept them smooth and made her more comfortable. Anytime she hadn't used lotion on her legs after bathing, especially after shaving, her legs felt like they'd been on a trek through the Sahara Desert without her. This particular brand had a healthy amount of Urea in it, which her doctors had said was the best for skin. It was just a bonus that it was odorless.

"Bella?" A voice called tentatively as she popped the lid back down on the bottle. "Are you finished in there, honey?"

"Yeah. You can come in, Jacob." She knew that's what he wanted even though he hadn't asked it. Sure enough he opened the door letting in a draft. It brought goosebumps to her skin.

"I brought in a pair of socks for your feet. They'll be huge, but it'll be better to have them on than walking around on these wood floors without them." He knelt before her, plucked each foot up, and deftly slipped thick socks onto each of her feet. She fussed with the hem of the shirt which had ridden up when she sat in order to keep anything unseemly from his view.

Jacob smirked, obviously seeing what she was trying to do.

"Come on, honey. Let's go get you something to eat."

In one swift, practiced motion her friend had her hoisted up into his arms bridal style. She fisted her hands in the hem of the shirt to hold it over her panties. She could feel a breeze tickling her buttocks and back from where it hung open beneath her and between his arms. He chuckled a little when she shivered and glared at him.

"Set her here. I'll warm her up." Paul was patting his lap from where he sat at the kitchen table. She wasn't surprised at all when Jacob deposited her onto the wide stretch of his thighs and felt the other wolf's right arm band over her stomach to hold her to him.

"Bring her out once her clothes are dried. We'll all be there later on." Jacob bent forward and kissed her forehead, something she was becoming accustomed to, before moving away. He paused in the living room. "Jared's bringing Jenny. He promised to look after her today."

With that he was gone.

"Who's Jenny?" She tried to keep the bitter taste of jealousy out of her voice entirely, but she feared she didn't hide it all that well. Her mind whirled a moment before it tripped over a fact it had recently acquired. Her eyes widened. "Jenny? Isn't that Jared's little sister?"

"Yep. Jenneece is six years old."

"You and Jared are twenty-two, right?" At his nod she felt her head shake a little. "Sixteen years. That's a pretty big age difference."

Paul shrugged. "Lucinda, Jared's mom, had him when she was seventeen. She was lucky that Daniel was willing to stick by her and was twenty-one with some hold on a job and home. They raised Jared practically on their own since neither of their parents accepted that she was just another statistic for teen pregnancy. She wanted more kids, but she didn't think she could handle two kids around. She waited until Jared was old enough to take care of himself for the most part."

"I guess that makes sense." She agreed reluctantly. She had always thought it would be better to have kids around the same age so they could be playmates and be more likely to understand each other. But maybe she was wrong?

"Sit back, Button, so I can feed you." His large hand, the one draped over her waist, spread wide over her tummy to tilt her back into his chest. He didn't have to exert any real pressure to get her to move the way he wanted.

When he raised a forkful of scrambled eggs to her mouth she pursed her lips.

"Be a good girl and eat your food, Bella." Even when he followed her mouth with the fork she refused to open for him. After a minute he growled, but put the utensil down. His hand landed heavily on her hips. "Why won't you eat, Bella? Do you want something else?" He was trying to be understanding, she knew, but it wasn't an easy thing for him. He was the kind of guy that wanted something and got it no matter what…and he got it instantly. When he didn't get his way _he_ got cranky.

"I can feed myself." She told him sternly.

"I know you can." He rubbed his nose into the back of her neck just below the towel. "But I want to feed you. I want to baby you. It makes me feel good." His hands spasmed slightly where they held her. "Please let me feed you. Let me baby you."

"On one condition." She conceded, her eyes hard as she stared back at him over her shoulder. His brows drew down in consternation, but he allowed her to pose her stipulation. "I'll let you feed me whenever you want, but not outside of the house. I need some breathing room and it really isn't realistic to feed me out in public."

"Fine." He placed a loud, moist kiss to the back of her neck before snatching the fork back up and setting it to her lips. This time she opened them, grudgingly as it was, and allowed him to feed her like a child.

As he fed her between his own bites of food she looked over the spread laid out before them. There was a towering stack of French toast with real syrup, a large bowl full of scrambled and season eggs, and several pieces of regular toast spread with grape jelly. She lunged for that over Paul's lap while he forked a piece of French toast into his mouth. His palm kept her from tumbling forward into the table.

"Whoah! Easy there, Bella. If you want something just ask." She ignored the slightly patronizing rebuke as she folded the piece of toast up like a hotdog roll and bit into it. The jelly oozed out onto her tongue and made her moan in pleasure.

"Oh, this is good." She spoke around her bite of food.

"Sue, Seth's mom, makes preserves. She gave us some jelly when Seth mentioned to her that you liked it."

"They know?" She gulped. She dropped the toast onto the plate in front of them suddenly feeling like she'd eaten sawdust. "Do they know about…you? About everyone?"

"Yes, Bella." Paul's hand began to rub in soothing circles over her stomach. "When all of us shifted for the first time our parents had to be alerted because if we shifted that meant any of our siblings, if we had any, could phase, too. Plus with being around them as much as we were there was no easy way to hide our bodies' sudden changes. It helped that Big Quil, Harry, and Billy were on the Council and aware of the truth in the legends."

"Seth mentioned me to his parents…does that mean they know about us?"

"They do." He nodded solemnly. "The Black's, Ateara's, Clearwater's, and Cameron's have accepted that they'll all be sharing a daughter-in-law if we have it our way and can get you to accept us. Jared's parents are a little more confused and not as wholly comfortable with the idea since they weren't raised to believe our legends were true with us being one with the wolves, but they are willing to go along with '_all this freaky shit_' just so long as Jared's content. My father's on business most of the time and while he's not wholly liking the situation he's said that just so long as I don't hurt you or '_whatever woman I've chosen with those _brothers_ of mine_' then he won't bitch. He said about the same thing after I had to tell him about phasing for the first time and showed him the shift. Sam's parents aren't in the picture and Embry's mom is, well…you'll have to get used to her. She's a little…bubbly. She doesn't give a hoot that more than her son has claim to you. She's just plain giddy to be getting a daughter."

"D-daughter?" She dodged the cut piece of French toast Paul tried to push between her lips. "But none of us are…"

"I know, Bella. We all know." He forced her to eat the bite of syrupy toast before he continued. "You're determined that this won't work, but it will. We were all meant to be together and I'm going to make sure that we all stay together. Nothing's going to get in our way. You'll see. Just lean on me, _on us_, Bella-mine. Let us worry about everything."

He fed her only a little more after that. He would have given her more, she knew, but her stomach couldn't handle it. Once she had taken in all she could of the meal Paul finished it off. He kept her pinioned to him, though. He apparently didn't want her out of his lap. So she settled for fidgeting with her hands curled into the hem of the borrowed shirt to keep it from riding up too much.

It was bad enough that she could feel Paul's erection through his cut-offs and her limited protection at her rear end.

She waited as patiently as she could while he polished off his final plate before he placed her onto the spot he had been warming so that he could attend to the dishes…not surprisingly _without_ her help. None of them, especially Paul, liked her lifting a single finger with them around. She didn't doubt they whined about her having to do her own chores, _Heaven forbid that!_, when they weren't around.

She watched his wonderful ass sway a little at the counter as he shifted from one foot to the other. The inner wanton in her couldn't help but comment on how absolutely scrumptious that ass would be to have her eager, naughty hands gripping.

_Ah crap. Am I drooling?_ She wiped her chin inconspicuously to doubly make sure that she wasn't embarrassing herself. She just couldn't seem to help herself. Despite their massive egos and nearly unbearable dominance they were all, without a single doubt in her mind, the most gorgeous specimens of the male species the world over!

_I just wish they wouldn't say things that ruin the moment as much as they do_.

Like how they all presumed that she had accepted them all as her 'mates' entirely and was hunky-dory with marrying 'them' when the time came. _Ha! Snort. Whoo-wee!_ They certainly jumped the broom, both figuratively and literally, on that one! She was eighteen, damn it, and still in high school! She wasn't ready to get married, yet.

Let alone to an entire troop of shapeshifting men!

She wanted to finish school. She wanted to go to college and have fun. She didn't want to be confined to a single place where she'd grow complacent which she knew she would after a time with any of the guys pampering and spoiling her and feel like she was losing herself.

_Don't think about the future like it can really happen._ The sensible her snarked. _Polyamorous relationships simply _do not work_ in normal society. Even if I want it and they do no one will accept it…and if they say they do they're just putting on a show. That's what their parents are doing! They might accept that their kids now slip from human body to wolf body on a regular basis, but to them that wasn't an option for them. Their kids were now _choosing_ to be different by sharing a woman. They want them to settle down with one woman each and toss me aside. I just know it._

And she did know. Parents, no matter how distant they were or weren't from their children, only wanted the best for them and for them to be accepted. If the guys went through with claiming her they'd be ostracized by almost everyone and no parents wanted that for their kids. Bella knew that they could _pretend_ to like her, to have _accepted_ her, but they'd always be looking for a way to get rid of her. In their minds she was a burden that their kids didn't need and that with time the wolves would grow out of this phase of theirs. Until then they'd play nice and relish in their victory when she either left or the guys cut her loose.

_What did I do in this life or a past life to deserve all of this torture?_

She was startled greatly when two massive hands cupped the sides of her head gently, but firmly. Her wide eyes landed on Paul's near obsidian ones. A twinge of panic showed through the upset shining in them.

"Stop thinking about whatever it is that has you so nerved up." His nose twitched as the command fell from his lips. "I don't like you smelling this way. I don't like you being sad. Stop."

She allowed a small smile to pull at her lips as she patted his left hand on her right cheek. A purr rumbled deep down in his chest when she did so and allowed her mind to drift away, at least for the moment, from the distressing topic of her improbable future with these men. She had decided that she'd enjoy the illusion of being the one woman for seven men while she could and she was already ruining that resolve.

Paul's thumbs brushed over her brows tenderly before he bent forward, kissed her forehead, and then backed away from her.

"Why don't you go watch some TV while I wash up? Then we'll head out after I pull your clothes out of the dryer." He urged her with a more than serene look on his face.

"Sure." She stood then and moved slowly into the living room a short distance away. She only noticed at that moment that she hadn't seen Billy at all. "Paul? Where's Billy?"

"Your father and he are fishing with Harry Clearwater. They're going back to Charlie's place afterwards to watch a game on your TV."

"Oh." She scratched the back of her neck a little nervously. "Does my dad…?"

"No, Bella. Whatever you want to tell him is up to you. We're not going to go behind your back like that. He only knows that you decided to spend the day here with Jacob and his friends." He flicked a finger over the towel wrapped around her hair. "When I get done I'll help you brush your hair out. Will you let me put a braid in it?"

"Um, sure."

"Good." He beamed triumphantly as he marched off towards the bathroom briskly.

Bella used the remote to turn the television on, but paid little attention to whatever was playing. She didn't let herself think any overly depressing thoughts in order to avoid troubling Paul. She didn't doubt that he'd pick up on her distress even with all the water running around him.

And with that thought she felt her heart kicking off into a chaotic stutter.

Paul. Naked. Warm water trickling over his deeply tanned skin while his muscles rolled underneath with each movement he made. His deep voice rumbling out in a caress over her own skin.

_Bad, Bella! Don't think about that!_

Yet she couldn't stop. Her dirty mind supplied scenario upon scenario in which she could enjoy Paul's body in that too-small bathroom. She had never been an overly sex-crazed individual, but it seemed that ever since she'd fallen into the Supernatural world she'd become a bit of a slut. It was bad enough wallowing in Edward's kisses and always hoping for more, but with having these seven males at her fingertips she felt unstable. It seemed like every other thought in her head involved them, either naked or close to it, gathered around her aroused body.

She was going to self-combust at this rate.

"Now what are you thinking about, Bella-mine?" Her cheeks flushed to the point she thought she might die from the blood-rush to her head. Paul's chuckle was entirely masculine and quiver-worthy. "Did I interrupt something, Button? Should I go back into the bathroom so you can finish whatever thought it was you had rolling around in that pretty little head of yours?"

"I wasn't thinking anything ba–," her words dropped off on an unintelligent 'ah-heuw' as her eyes landed on Paul's nearly naked form. She'd grown used to seeing them all walking around with only cut-offs on unless they were out in public with more normal people.

This…oh God! This wasn't fair!

Paul was standing before her like a Native Adonis. A warrior god. Those water drops she had visualized kissing his skin were there, having dripped down from his dampened black-as-pitch hair. His eight-pack, a feat she had never seen on man besides those grotesque body-builders on TV, stood out vibrantly over the upper rim of the stark-white towel wrapped snuggly around his waist. It hung so low on his waist that she could see the V of his hips meeting his tree trunk legs. She was mesmerized by the smoothness of his skin, the glistening drops of water, and the threatening bulge hidden not-so-well behind the terrycloth towel. A towel that hung to his knees. A towel and nothing else.

She could see his lips moving and could hear a thrumming in the back of her mind that signaled he was speaking to her, but she couldn't make her body do anything other than stare. She couldn't smack the inner her away from the viewport that was her eyes and was forced to listen to her exuberance and eager desire to lunge forward to tug that towel completely off of him. She was finding it extremely hard to deny her and therefore herself of that desperate plea.

She gaped rudely as he moved towards her, his muscles dancing in a sensuous tango before her eyes. She couldn't blink. It wasn't even a possibility. He was just so…

_Oh God_.

_He_ was a god.

"Breathe, Bella." She only heard those words because of the tender hands drawing the towel from her head. Her hair cascaded down around her in curly waves. Still her attention remained fixated on the male's immaculate form. Her breathing was a little ragged, but at least she was breathing. "Would you like me to get dressed now, Bella-mine?"

_No!_ The girl behind her eyes cried out in dismay. _No! No changing! Make him take it off and keep it off! Do you hear me? Take. It. Off._

"Y-yes, please." She squeaked.

_No! Come back!_ As she watched him go with his perfectly shaped ass tensing with each step away from her prone form the girl behind her eyes hissed in righteous fury before crawling back to where she'd come from. _You are so cruel to us_.

Her hands were shaking when she brought them to her face. She rubbed the skin there vigorously. She suspected that he had been teasing her and that upset her, but it infuriated her that it had worked. She was chomping at the bit to lick all that delicious water off of his darkened body.

Her walls clenched mercilessly, wanting something so bad to bury itself in there where it could grip it until completion.

_I'm not going to survive until tomorrow. There's no way. I'm just going to end up as a pile of ash on the floor somewhere_.

When Paul returned he was grinning. In his arms were her clothes, freshly washed and dried. He was wearing his customary cut-offs, these ones a dark blue. He set the small stack onto the recliner out of her reach. He grabbed two items from the top of the stack before sitting directly beside her.

"Come sit between my legs on the floor, Button. I'll braid your hair." Bella moved slowly, afraid to move too quickly and trigger her own inner animal. She felt like she had a caged, anxious tiger trapped within her and it wanted this wolf…badly. She felt like it would claw out of her at any second to get to Paul.

He worked diligently with her damp hair using a brush he'd grabbed from the stack of clothes to untangle it. He started from the ends and worked his way to the top by layers to avoid causing her any pain. His strokes were smooth and effortless. Once he'd brushed her hair through he used his fingers to begin molding and bending her hair in a way that would please him the most.

She luxuriated in the administrations. She was begrudgingly growing used to being pampered and was wallowing in the attention. She'd gone far too long in her life without having the attention she needed. Goodness knew that Edward, while endearing in his own way, was still distant with her just as she was with him. With the wolves she could feel safe in being herself and expressing herself fully.

Bella pivoted her head when asked to, noting inattentively that Paul was braiding her hair on both sides. Concentrating a little harder she realized that he was giving her a double-Dutch braid. His fingers worked meticulously until she could feel him grabbing the ends and tucking them back up towards the base of her skull underneath the bulk of the braid where they ran parallel to each other. She felt a minor jerk at that point of her skull along with hearing a metallic snap before his hands were gone. The hair remained in place.

"Beautiful." He murmured huskily as he ghosted his fingers over her shoulders at the juncture of her neck on either side.

She reached her hand back to where he'd pulled the braid back up into itself and felt cool metal at her fingertips. She glanced momentarily over her shoulder at him before rising to her feet and going into the bathroom. A hand mirror lay under the sink in the cabinets which she used to view his handiwork by reflecting her image back at her with her back facing the mirror above the sink.

"Wow." She gushed, awed by the perfection of the braid he'd put in her hair. There wasn't a single hair out of place. Either braid pulled down from both sides of her scalp before nearly merging together in the center of the base of her skull. Where he'd pulled the two ends back up they were held firmly there by a silver barrette*. The silver was twisted into whimsical swirls, knots, and dainty silver balls. In the center of the intricate piece was a small polished stone colored a creamy white with redish, burgundy and thin green accents.

"It's so pretty." She was complimenting his work in general, but Paul seemed to delight in the fact that she was admitting to being pleased by his 'gift'. He'd followed her from the living room holding her clothes. "Is this one of those polished river stones?" She asked. It looked like it. She'd had one of those rock-tumbler sets as a little girl to make stones like this.

"Not exactly." He set her clothes down on the sink behind her before reaching behind her back to finger the delicate piece of jewelry with a finger. "Sam said it was Ocean Jasper. He got the rock from a dealer a few years back and thought it would make a nice hairpiece."

"Sam made this?" She was impressed.

"Yep. Besides making sculptures and doing carvings he sometimes likes to make jewelry. He says it tests his skills. He's got loads of other stuff like this at his house in his workshop safe. I'm sure you'll be getting more of it from him."

She was a little unnerved by accepting these gifts, especially since she'd said she didn't want any, but she couldn't seem to help herself. She tried to reason with herself that since it was handmade it meant more and he hadn't really bought it from a store. This was more like a gift from the heart. She could accept something like this, right? She just wouldn't accept anymore.

"Thank you." She whispered, making a mental note to thank Sam as well the next time she saw him.

"You're welcome, Button. Now get dressed and we'll go once you're all set." He closed the door on her then. She stared after him, a little flustered by the indulgent smile he'd given her. She was convinced that she'd never truly get used to the tenderness they all showed her. She'd always wonder why they bothered.

It wasn't something she wanted to complain out loud about, though, now that she had that kind of devotion focused strictly on her.

She changed fairly quickly back into the brown sweater and jeans she'd worn the day before to the bonfire. She took the time to fold up the borrowed shirt and set it on the toilet lid before checking to make sure she hadn't mussed her hair and left the bathroom. Paul was waiting for her by the front door.

"You look great." He stretched out his hand, beckoning her towards him. It was an invitation she couldn't ignore. She moved forward as smoothly as possible to avoid tripping. She didn't need to add physical injury onto her list of ways to embarrass herself. She did so well at that without the falls and breaks.

"Where are we going?" She tried, peaking up at him through her lashes in a coquettish fashion. The jerk smirked at her shot at flirting before dropping to one knee in front of her.

Her breathing stopped.

"Give me your foot. I'll put your boots on you." The air sucked into her mouth like a vacuum when she noticed her boots beside him. Her mind, unbidden, had jumped to something she definitely did _not_ want right then. A proposal would not be good at this point.

She used his shoulders, hot and hard, for balance as he slipped her boots onto her feet one at a time and zipped them up. His hands skimmed across her calves once before he stood, the fingers tickling across the backs of her knees as well. The touch even through the denim made them quake. Once he was on his feet he grabbed her coat off of the rack and tucked her snuggly into its folds. He pulled the hood up over her head with a gentle grin and rubbed a thumb over her brow.

"Hold on tight, Button." Bella gasped as she was hauled up by one arm so that she straddled his back much as she had Edward in the past. Paul kicked the door shut behind him before using one hand to unsnap the snare of his bottoms, pushed them down to his ankles, and hopped out of them. She was even more floored when she felt his muscles and skin convulse and contort under her fingertips an instant later.

"Holy shit!" She screeched as fur sprouted under her hands. As Paul's body morphed and enlarged she felt her death-lock on his neck widen to encompass the newer, larger girth of it. Her legs, already spread fairly widely over his taut back, were made to open even wider as his back widened. The ground dipped considerably beneath her as Paul dropped down to four paws. His body trembled once and he shook very slightly as if trying to clear water from his fur.

"Oh my Gawd!" She laughed joyously as she sat up straight on the silver wolf's back. Her legs were clamped firmly at the base of his barreled rib-cage. His fur was long enough for her to curl her fingers down into its depths for a good grip. The wolf's head, Paul's head, turned so that he could glance at her through one large, golden eye.

Like a child she giggled, bounced on his back, and kicked at his sides as if he were a pony. "Giddy up!"

A rumbling bark poured from his new muzzle before he nodded once. He didn't move until she'd bent forward to secure herself more closely to him. When she did, though, he took off through the woods at a smooth canter. She noticed that he remembered to take his cut-offs in his jowls. She laughed like a maniac as she felt his muscles working under her body. His purr was even more powerful in this form.

She squealed indignantly when she felt something cold and wet push up from behind and touch her side where her sweater had ridden up. Her head whipped to that side to find Sam and Embry keeping pace easily with them. Embry was the one closest to them and judging by the way his tongue lolled she guessed that he was the one that had given her a snout to the side. Without thinking she arched slightly his way, her grip increasing on the silver fur beneath her, and whacked him soundly on his muzzle with her free hand.

"Bad dog." She scolded him as he shook his head frantically from side to side.

A chuffing sound she wasn't familiar with came from both her mount and the black wolf as Embry seemed to scowl at her. It looked more like a snarl. He acted as if he wanted to bite Paul, but with her riding on him he couldn't do so without risking her, so he instead snapped his jaws at Sam's haunches. Sam just howled a little, mixing it with a bark, before bounding off again into the woods around them.

Paul and Embry ran with her for several miles before they came to an opening in the forest. Their paws and claws clicked against a stone, paved driveway. Bella looked behind them frantically, concerned that they might be seen. Embry used his snout to nudge her leg and draw her attention. When she looked at him he was shaking his heavy head at her. She presumed that meant that no one would come up behind them and see.

Relaxing again she moved her gaze back ahead of them.

And her jaw went slack.

They were coming up upon a massive wooden home. Its mid-to-dark wood walls were outlined by blue-black borders, frames, and supports. Stone matching the apparent driveway decorated and acted as several walls of the impressive wood home. The flowers in the gardens surrounding were in great need of pruning, but many of the flowers bloomed purple, pink, and fragrant. Right off the bat she could see pink and purple Azaleas, Crape Myrtle, Wisteria, Scarlet Mallow, and overgrown Maiden Grass.

"It's gorgeous." She whispered as her escorts sidled up to the front door. Paul dropped to his stomach so that she could slide off of his back. She stumbled up to the front door in a daze and gawked at the detailed carvings on the solid-wood double-doors.

The carvings were melded as one as if the door had been a whole piece and then cut straight down the middle later. The carving was of a wolf standing on a rocky outcropping in front of a full moon. The trees stood strong and tall around it as it howled into the night skies. The wolf looked like it was being put on spotlight by the moon. The carving was so realistic that she felt as if she could reach out and feel its fur or the chill of the night. Even the modern nature of the door handles, which were a blackened grey color, couldn't detract attention from the doorway.

"You have a lot more to see, darlin'." Embry's voice jarred her from her wide-eyed wonder. He was dressed in a pair of white-washed jeans, something she hadn't seen him carrying in his mouth as Paul had.

Speaking of which… "Where's Paul?"

"Patrolling with Sam. They'll be by later in the afternoon." Embry reached into the back pocket of the jeans he wore and handed whatever he'd grabbed to her. She gave him a look. "This key's yours. Go on and open the door."

"What do you mean it's mine?" She flicked her eyes to the golden key in her palm.

"This is called the Lunar Cabin. It's been the pack home for generations. As the newest pack this place belongs to us and you're ours. We want you to have this key so you'll always have a place to come to if you need it." He pivoted her by her shoulders so that she was facing the doors. He bent to whisper in her ear. "Open the door, Bella."

"O-okay."

She might argue later about taking the key to a home that was not hers, but right then her curiosity had a firm grip on her. She pushed the key through the lock and then opened the door. Warm air smelling of wood smoke pushed out the opened doorway at her as soon as it was opened.

Stepping inwards she was awed by beauty of the home she'd just entered.

The foyer was simplistic and led straight into the combination living room and dining room. The living room's ceilings spanned up two full stories*. Wooden beams matching the brown exterior of the home supported the peaked roof high overhead. The floor in the living area was covered by speckled golden-brown carpets which looked plush. The back wall, which overlooked the sea a little ways away, was a mixture of pretty glass doors and picturesque windows that reached all the way up to the roof. The fireplace was already stoked and considerably warming. A set of cozy looking chairs and tables littered the space along with dark floral carpets and wrought-iron or wood lamps. The space looked like a winter dream.

"Let's get you comfortable." Embry intoned as he pulled her coat from her shoulders. Instead of hanging it on the coat rack he opened a small door to place it in the confines of the tiny closet there. Hers was the only garment present. Bella toed off her boots, uncomfortable with wearing the dirty things in this pristine looking place.

She wandered further into the house with Embry's urging. He kept to her heels, outwardly eager to see her reactions.

She moved first into the living room. There weren't any pictures in the room. Instead there were plants, all of them real as far as she could tell, and sculptural pieces scattered throughout. Beyond the smell of wood smoke she could detect a hint of cleaner. _Lemon Pledge and Windex?_ A large flatscreen television hung up on the fireplace wall above the mantel. Two ivory candles sat unused on either side of said mantel.

She moved slowly into the dining room from the living room. The floors here were a polished version of the wooden accents along the cream colored walls and the outside. The dining table was the biggest she'd seen anywhere. At count she could see thirteen burgundy-cushioned chairs, one sitting proudly at the head nearest the china cabinet. The other head of the table did not have a chair as it was on the side of more wooden French doors and would only block access in and out had it been there. The table was hand-carved if the claw-foot legs of ivy were any indication.

Further on was a magnificent kitchen*. The appliances were missing at present, most likely being replaced with newer, better models…this home looked old so she figured the appliances would need swapping eventually. The cabinets were almost modern, but still pulled off a cabin-like charm. The counters were pure granite. Opening a door located in the inner right corner she found a grand pantry, empty though it was. Had the appliances been in place she would be itching to start cooking. This kitchen was a home-chef's dream!

Embry chuckled at her as she fondled the island and nearly drooled over its smooth, shiny surface. The golden flecks seemed to wink back at her.

"You could never pull me out of here." She ensured him, her tone airy and sweet. She knew her eyes must be sparkling. "It's absolutely perfect."

"Not yet." He responded with a shake of his head. "We've ordered the appliances and they should be ready for pick-up next weekend. The others were unacceptable. Probably a fire-hazard, too. When we go to get the appliances we're going to be picking up a lot of home goods, too. This place hasn't been in use for several decades."

"You said it was a pack home. Did one of your ancestors build this place?"

He nodded. "Yes. Somewhere in our history this place was built for the sole purpose of acting as a home base for the pack. It's never used by the Normals. Only the shifters of the pack were permitted ownership of Lunar Cabin."

"It makes sense. It's so large!"

"It has to be. I mean, look at us, Bells! We're giants." He chuckled in his deep timbre as he spread his arms wide in a 'look at me' gesture.

"Point." She conceded.

"Keep looking around. There's a lot more to see. We were only just able to get this place squeaky clean Friday." He wiped his finger across a counter and nodded dramatically. She giggled.

Exiting the kitchen she moved directly to the double-doors, pained glass in accented wood, and found a study waiting*. There was a worn cream colored table with drawers sitting at the end of the room facing out into the front yard through the picture window there. On the left and right side were pale shelving units matching the desk. The grey-brown walls made the cream pop out nicely. On the lower shelves there were canvas covered boxes with removable tops while the upper shelves had a few old-fashioned pictures, knickknacks, and leather-bound books.

Peeking at the pictures she could see that none of them were done up in stark color. They were either sepia or black and white. They all depicted men that looked like her men wearing period clothing or Native ceremonial wear. Sometimes there was a whole gaggle of men and sometimes there were only two or three. They all looked exceptionally happy.

"Our ancestors. The oldest here is of Joseph Black and a few of his pack. He was Jake's great-great-grandfather. Some of the others we don't actually know and can't trace, but figure are related to us or at least have shifter DNA because they look so much like us." Bella nodded at Embry's explanation and turned her attention away from the photos for the moment.

She spun the old chair by the desk a few times with her right hand and decided that she liked this room. It was quaint, homey, and she could easily see herself doing her homework or projects in a room like this. With a laptop or desktop she'd be all set.

The laundry was, as she came to find, awaiting new machinery as well. It was large and had several cabinets and counters in which one could fold clothes or store blankets or towels. Beyond that was the garage, a grand affair indeed. It was large enough for three cars and had plenty of workspace in the back. The right hand corner in the back was already retrofitted for any manly men out there with tools and tinker toys to do various projects around and about the house. Honestly it held little to no interest for her. The door in the back led to a stone path edging down a hill towards the living room around the corner and the door on the far wall opened into a smartly made trash room. Bins already sat waiting, each marked for trash, paper, plastic, or metal.

On the way back through Embry ushered her up the stairs to where three bedrooms waited. All of the bedrooms were large. Two were colored either a pale blue with white trim and cream colored sheets or a succulent red with dark furniture and bedding. Those two had full baths, the red room having the bigger of those two and a mini deck. The master bedroom of that floor was a stucco colored yellow-orange with mahogany furniture and an almost Mexican flare to it*. The bathroom was grand with Jacuzzi tub, walk in tile shower, his and her sinks, and a big walk in closet. The tub, though being a Jacuzzi type, was not new. Its design was something she had never seen before making her think it was either old or custom. Could have been both.

"Pretty rooms." It was true. They were very pretty. Extravagant compared to what she was used to, but pretty.

"The bedding is all fresh and good. We made sure of that when we started cleaning. Mainly we just have to deck the house out in those decorative little touches. You know, curtains and brickabrack like that. The kitchen needs all new cooking stuff and dining sets. The bathrooms need towels and things." He suddenly looked downwards and scuffed his bare foot across the dark wood floor of the bedroom they were in. "Hey Bella?"

"What?" She queried, tilting to the side to look at him better.

"Can you help us with that?" She stepped back in a startled manner. Embry scratched his head a little. "We aren't the best at decorating. It's not our strong suit. Sam and Paul are awesome in art, but their style-sense in the home isn't the best. So, uh, would you? Please?"

It was the please that broke her. She nodded shakily. "Yeah. Okay. Just let me know ahead of time, okay?"

"How about next weekend when we go to pick up the appliances?" He piped in cheerily like an over-eager puppy. His smile was life threatening to her sanity. "We can pick up stuff in the city then. We wouldn't have to make as many trips if we do it that way."

"Uh, well, let me make sure it's okay with my dad. If nothing else is happening that I have to worry about then I guess we could."

"That's great!" He cheered, swooping down to twirl her around in circles. Her hands gripped his shoulders for balance as he snuggled his head into her stomach. Even with the high ceilings she had to bend her head forward to avoid making contact with it.

"All right, Em, put me down." He did so gently.

"Let's go look at everything else."

He led her to the downstairs where four more bedrooms resided along with a gigantic Rec Room. The television pinioned over the fireplace in the Rec Room was like the one on the main floor, just a tad bigger. Many seats circled around that. There was also an antique looking billiards table, a rustic wet bar with wine already stocked, and several seating areas. This space was a shade darker with tinted windows to the French doors so that there wouldn't be a glare on the TV when people watched it.

The bedrooms were all varied in color. One was a foamy sea green, another a chocolate brown, one dark green, and the last being pale grey. The foam green and pale grey were the ones tucked off towards the front of the house. They had no windows, but a sufficient amount of lighting. She thought it was illegal to have a bedroom with only one exit, in this case being the doors, but it didn't seem to matter with this house. The back two rooms, the darker ones, both had French doors leading out to the stone patio out back. The chocolate colored room and dark green one both had two full sized beds in them. The pale grey one had a Queen bed, which was closest to the stairs and wet bar, while the foamy green had two full beds as well. The full-sizers were extra-long she noted attentively.

She loved the patio and entertainment area along with the unkempt gardens. It looked to her like someone had mowed but hadn't bothered to weed the garden out. That was a shame. Beyond the wide stretch of green grass, something miraculous in itself since she was so used to seeing mud everywhere, lay a steep cliff. The cliffs overlooked the ocean. Bella found the salty sea air blowing into her face refreshing.

Embry took her back in quickly, afraid of her getting sick without her coat on. He promised they could come back out later, though, to appease her.

Back on the main floor he directed her towards a set of solid wood doors she hadn't been through yet. His face looked anxious as he pushed her by her lower back towards it. She wondered at his sudden nerves, but didn't remark on it.

Instead she pushed open the pretty double doors, these ones lacking any glass, and stepped into Paradise.

Bella immediately felt like Mia from the '_Princess Diaries 2_' as she took in the ultimate Master Bedroom before her*. The floors were the same polished wood as it was in the kitchen and the furniture was made from that same wood as well. The walls were painted in a pale cream with white trim. The bed was a bigger than even a King which she would have been swallowed whole by anyway. There was a tall dresser, a stouter one with an attached mirror, and two thick end tables with storage in them. It had a skirt of goldish olive green matching the gold and olive green floral blankets, comforter, and pillows. There was also a love seat in the same color and style in the sitting room facing the fireplace. To either side of the fireplace were two narrow bookcases packed with leather-bound books and knickknacks. Cream rugs were placed strategically around the room.

From the vantage of the French doors, which matched every other room in the house, she could see that the room had a portion of the deck to itself. The room needed curtains for privacy, but the brightness was refreshing.

She stumbled dazedly through another set of double doors to a marble, stone, and wood bathroom*. The color scheme matched the bedroom exactly. There was a Jacuzzi tub as unique and beautiful as the one upstairs surrounded by marble and a sink to either side. The walk-in-shower was tiled with the same marble surrounding the tub and had a glass front. The toilet was hidden behind another door. The only remaining door she opened and emitted a gasp of pure awe.

_This is the biggest frickin' closet I've ever seen!_* She thought with a spluttering heart. It was all wood from the cabinets to the floors, matching everything else of course, and had a three-piece mirror to one wall between cabinets. There were open racks to hang dresses in, smaller drawers for jewelry to line the velvet interiors, and shoe cubbies in the center island. There was just so much room she didn't think anyone, not even Alice, could fill it.

_Okay, maybe not Alice. She'd just buy out Chanel_.

"Do you like it?" Embry asked from the doorway. Startled, she whirled to face him. He must have seen the wonder on her face because his white teeth shined through in a solar-flare rivaling grin.

"I-it's great." Her voice was caught embarrassingly between a whisper and a squeak. "Beautiful." She fingered the center island lightly.

"This will be your room."

Her jaw all but unhinged at those words. Embry was staring down at her with an indulgent, almost adoring look on his face. She shook her head a little and tried to keep the shakiness she was feeling from her voice when she spoke.

"N-no, that's okay. This room's very nice, but it's too big. It's for a Princess or something…not for someone like me." She took at timid step backwards at the male's scowl.

"Someone like you?" He rumbled out sourly. "Bella, I believe we've warned you about implying that you were anything but special. I'm not going to tolerate anyone, even you, demeaning yourself. You do it again and I swear that I'll pull you over my knee and swat your bare ass until you promise me you'll never talk about yourself badly again."

"B-but I wasn't…I was just…" Bella stomped her foot suddenly, her childish anger outweighing her trepidation over the threat he'd just placed in front of her. Embry just cocked a brow at her. He was egging her on…challenging her temper. "You can't spank me! I'm not a child and you aren't my father."

"You're right, you're not a child and I am definitely not your father." He moved so fast she lost sight of him in a single blink. One moment he was on the other side of the island, the next he had her pinned back against the triple-mirrors with a proprietary hand settled over the curve of her ass. "I am, however, your Protector and it's my duty, my right, and my pleasure to make sure you are never hurt physically, emotionally, or otherwise. If a sound spanking is needed to keep you, little darlin', out of harms way then I am more than willing to dish out punishment."

She knew she must have presented a pretty picture standing mushed between his impressive form and the cold, reflective walls behind her with a floundering mouth, but her rational mind was fritzing and she just couldn't make herself care about her self-image. She couldn't believe he'd just…

"You…you jerk!" She smacked and pushed at his chest and stomach where she could scarcely reach between them. He didn't twitch a muscle. In fact the hot hand on her bottom flexed and squeezed firmly. "You can't say that to me! I can take care of myself and I certainly don't need you going all caveman on me if I do something you don't like. Now let me go, damn it!"

"Say it first, Bella." Embry taunted, his tone darker and more sensual than she'd ever heard it. His free hand circled behind her head to cuff the base of her neck tightly until his thumb and forefinger connected at her Adam's apple. It didn't hurt in the least or cut off her airway, but she knew she'd not be moving unless he let her. "Tell me right now that you'll take this room as yours because you deserve it."

"…Embry," she implored only to cut herself off as he arched his head that long way down to hover his lips over her own. The almost-chapped feel of his lips tickling hers had her suddenly panting for air. The hand on her ass slid down so that his middle finger tucked indecently close to her core through the jeans. His unique scent of cedar, sandalwood, and musk ghosting over her senses made her knees shake. The hands she'd been pushing at him with were now tremblingly finely on his biceps.

"Say it, Bella." He commanded in a bedroom voice she couldn't find the will to resist. She dripped with her juices at the dominating presence he exuded. His desire was hot and thick in the air. It was smothering her and overruling her senses. "Say 'I will take the room and not demean myself'. Come on, darling. Say it."

Every word he spoke slipped between her parted lips. She could taste him. _Oh God! _She could taste him!

"Say it." His husky baritone rattled her as much as his tantalizing lips. At that point her rational mind, her independent mind, threw itself over a cliff and into the sea of frantic desire. She knew then and there that she'd do anything and say anything to get a better taste of him. Murder or massacre be'damned, she wanted to drown in him.

"I'll take the room and not demean myself." She promised as her fingers clawed into his biceps to tug him closer to her. She wanted his lips fully on hers. She wanted to devour him and the rest of the world could go crawl in a hole as far as she was concerned.

Embry resisted. She whimpered.

"You can't go back on this, Bella. I won't let you." The warning was lost on her.

"Kiss me." She begged pathetically. Her body was out of her control. His scent, that wild aphrodisiac, was making it impossible for her do anything sensible at the moment. She just wanted him in any way she could get him.

"No, Bella. You have to understand that I won't let you back out of your word. I'm going to make you keep it." The seriousness in his tone only served to make her burn hotter.

_His scent is killing me!_

"Yes, yes." She panted helplessly as she tried to lift to her tippy-toes to bring their mouths fully together. His grip on her neck prevented it. "I won't fight. I won't. Please, please kiss me. I need you, Embry."

She groaned in bliss when he pushed his lips into full contact with hers. She thrust her tongue into his mouth as it parted and savored in his flavor. Her tongue caressed his sensually before she pulled back allowing him to take the lead. He layered his kisses over her swelling lips with such passionate fire that she felt like she was going to melt onto him like a burning wax candle. She wanted to. She wanted to mold to him until they couldn't be separated by anyone.

"Oh Embry," she sighed into his mouth, surprised she could even make out the words.

Embry chuckled deeply, something that sounded harsh to her ears, and pulled back after several more lingering strokes of his lips on hers. Those last few, surprisingly, were calming. They cooled her down instead of ratcheting her libido up higher. She was thankful for that. She'd do something she'd regret later if he'd encouraged her too much.

His hands both slipped to her waist to give her the support she needed to regain herself once his mouth was out of her immediate reach. Her head thunked heavily on his chest as her core spasmed uncomfortably. _That_ would take a while to calm down.

"You okay, little one?" He queried as he rubbed soothing circles on her hips with his thumbs.

"Uh-huh." She nuzzled his bare chest with her nose for a minute or so before she pulled her head away and used her hands to push him gently away from her. He did so slowly. Her nails slipped out of the muscle tissue of his biceps slowly, the pull of the keratin of her nails and the blood of his arms slightly sickening. "I'm sorry." She whispered, ashamed of hurting him and not even realizing it.

"I liked it, darlin'." Her shock must have been written all over her face because he picked her up and carried her back into the bathroom. He sat her down onto the sink, turned the faucet, and bathed her hands in the lukewarm liquid. "I like that bite of pain, Bella. We all do. We heal almost instantly from cuts like you just gave me, but the pain feels good sometimes. Makes us feel alive. Feel free to use your little claws on us anytime."

_Don't use that voice._ She pleaded inwardly. _I can't control myself as it is._

Once he had her cleaned up he used the water to clean off his own arms as he leaned over the sink. The red-stained water ran down in rivulets over his stringent musculature. When he looked as good as new, no scars in sight, he pulled her off of the sink in front of him.

"Remember, Bella, you agreed to take the room and to stop putting yourself down. I'm going to hold you to it. If you don't I will not hesitate to pull you over my knee. You hear me?" She opened her mouth, to object or not she didn't know, but Embry suddenly looked towards the doorway leading to the bedroom and smiled. "Jared's here.

"Come on. Jenny's anxious to meet you."

She staggered after him as he led her from the room by her waist. Her jaw dropped with horror.

"I can't meet Jared's sister now! I'm not ready!"

Too bad she didn't have a choice in the matter.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy! Here's the next chapter. I know I went back over the interior of Lunar Cabin, but I wanted you all to get Bella's perspective on it and see more detail. There are several pictures I added of the upstairs Master Bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, and Bella's Master Suite for your reference. Those pictures are in the 'PhotoBucket' link on my page for those that haven't figured that out yet. Hopefully they'll help get my vision across to y'all better.

I hope you guys are enjoying the story and will continue to review. I truly enjoy reading everyone's reviews and seeing what you think. As always I ask that you keep a civil tongue with each other if you leave reviews. Swear if you want, but not pointed towards each other. Thanks again!

Also, the jewelry I had Sam make were original designs by _**Master68uk**_ on another site. You'll see more jewelry by him later in this story as I think he is a wonderful jeweler and I like the idea of Sam making jewelry for Bella since it has more thought behind it.

And I want you all to know right now that _**NONE OF THE PACK (BELLA'S WOLVES) WILL IMPRINT, MATE, OR HAVE SEX WITH ANYONE OTHER THAN BELLA!**_ They are hers as much as she is theirs and even though their relationship isn't technically monogamous since there are eight of them involved I consider them all to be completely loyal to each other. NO exceptions!

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	14. Chapter 14: New Developments

**Chapter Fourteen: New Developments**

Bella lay curled up on the largest leather sofa with a surprisingly contented smile on her face. A light blanket lay over her lap and tucked securely around her legs. The smell of wood and the roaring fireplace had been covered up slightly by the scent of freshly made pizza. It had been delivered hours ago and polished off in minutes, but the cheesy, greasy smell still lingered.

Normally she preferred a homemade meal, but she'd never say she abhorred the addicting smell and flavor of a good pizza. She guessed it was a trait she'd obtained after living so long with both of her parents who could rarely cook a meal on their own to save their lives. She was shocked that she wasn't born with grease pouring out of her pores with how much takeout her parents had bought before she was born.

She watched the guys as they willingly indulged in Jenneece's fanciful games. She was tuckered out from playing Red Light Green Light, Jump Rope, and several rounds of Hide-and-Seek. Their seemingly limitless bounds of energy came in handy with the little girl's effervescent personality.

She glanced at the girl sitting on the floor in front of her and smiling. The girl was the epitome of adorableness. She had her pitch black hair pulled up into a one-sided braid tied with a pale pink ribbon at the base. Her skin was the same pretty russet color any of the Quileute seemed to inherit. Her dimples were too cute. She was also decked out in pink plaid skirt that just covered her knees and a white peasant blouse that had a silky bow below her currently non-existent bust. Her shoes were missing leaving only her white socks on her tiny feet. Her eyes were a pretty emerald green flecked heavily with brown. They constantly shimmered with good humor.

Bella had been nervous as Hell meeting the little girl at first. She'd been afraid that the girl would spit at her or something. All of her insecurities took over in the face of this impressionable child and she'd cowered behind Embry's muscled mass.

It turned out she hadn't needed to worry at all.

Jenneece, demanding from the start to be called 'Jenny', had darted into her legs, hugged her heavily, and declared Bella her new best friend and big sister. Bella had been left stuttering and staring aghast at the two men who had the decency to look sheepish. Jared even diverted his eyes from her completely while Embry rubbed the back of his head in a nervous habit.

It had been even more startling to hear 'big brother loves you' and having to steer the conversation away from that particular kettle before the atmosphere grew any heavier. It didn't stop her from stomping on Embry's and Jared's instep for throwing her into the meeting with the small girl with no knowledge of how the girl perceived them.

Apparently Jenny was under the delusion that she and Jared were well on their way to becoming married and she'd have the big sister she'd always wanted very soon.

It made her brood inwardly. She wouldn't deny that she liked each and every one of the guys. They were attractive as sin. Had she been any less head-strong she had no doubt that she'd be throwing herself at them shamelessly like all the girls from her school did. She also felt deep, deep down, though she didn't want to admit it out loud or to herself, that she was well on her way to falling in love with them all.

_Already there, sweetheart_. A cheery, yet mocking voice sang from the plunging abyss she threw everything into when she didn't want to deal with it. She chucked a brick down into that abyss until she heard the meaty _thunk_ of it contacting the owner of that voice, effectively silencing her.

She didn't want to listen to the peanut gallery right then.

Bella had been appropriately enthused when Jenny had dragged her off to the sofa she now laid on to read her the storybook she'd brought back from school. She was in first grade but apparently had the reading level of at least a fourth grader. Jared had explained that his parents had dabbled into that '_Your Baby Can Read_' franchise and it had paid off with the kid. She loved to read almost as much as she herself did.

The guys, she discovered, took great delight in her animated conversations with the little girl over '_Thumbelina_' and other children's stories. She herself was quite enamored with the slip of a child. She was beyond cute and had a thirst for knowledge that rivaled just about every other person she knew. Bella had even been coerced into telling a few extra stories based on different nation's Folklore she'd heard over the years.

The guys were even more entertained than Jenny was.

By the time Quil, Sam, Seth, and Jacob had shown up later in the afternoon she had played enough games to wipe out an entire nation of Monster, Red Bull, and 5-Hour Energy drinkers ten-fold. She didn't know how even with their amped-up DNA that the wolves managed to keep up with the kid's movements.

_Crap! I lost sight of her at least twice when we were outside when I turned my back for one second! _One of the guys would conveniently disappear after her only to come back seconds later with the collected child giggling as she was carted around like a football. Bella suspected Jenny disappeared into the woods as much as she did just so that they would catch her and bring her back in that way. It was a game for her.

She laughed to herself now when she recalled the moment she'd decided to play the same game, too.

The first time had been hilarious and only improved as time went by. They had been playing Hide-and-Seek when she'd deemed it an appropriate time to just take a hike. Only Embry, Jared, and Seth had been there at that time. Seth had been 'it'. She'd been hunkered down behind a pine tree just before she'd meandered farther off into the woods.

She suspected she'd gotten only a hundred feet or so from the property, she counted the cleared back yard as the property line since it was clearly defined, when she had found a thick arm wrapped around her waist from behind. It hoisted her up off of her feet effortlessly until she could only swing her legs childishly in the air before her and smirk.

"Where do you think you're going? Don't you know the woods are dangerous?" Jacob sounded peeved, but she didn't much care. She'd been giddy. She had just wiggled in his arms in a half-assed effort to get free. She had a new playmate now that he was back from wherever it was he'd been. "You're not allowed out here alone. Do you hear me, Bella?"

That order had only fueled her fire to keep playing the game.

Jacob had thrown her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and taken her back to the 'safety' of the backyard with a wide hand gripping onto her thigh securely. He didn't act like he liked the fact that she hadn't responded to his new edict at all, besides giggling that is, but had deposited her gently onto one of the patio chairs to wait for the others to return.

Several times thereafter she'd made it a point to 'get lost' while playing Hide-and-Seek only to have them cart her giddy self back to the house. None of them looked thrilled by the fact that she kept wandering off on her own. When they put her down it was always to the same seat. She thought it was a point in her favor that eventually they took her playfulness in stride after the sixth incident. They had stopped scowling and in turn kept straight, slightly unamused faces.

By the tenth capture both she and Jenny had been herded back into the house while the wolves had grumbled under their breaths about babysitting ill-behaved children.

She had erupted into jubilant laughter.

Sam was the last to show up, Paul remaining out to patrol, with six extra-large boxes of pizza weighing him down. She and Jenny had shared a bar-b-que chicken pizza with bacon bits. Jenny managed one and a half slices while she downed two. The rest was scarfed down in minutes by the six males. Bella was at war with herself over whether to be awed or sickened by the sight.

They barely even chewed!

With the eating done they had hunkered down in front of the fire to play Go Fish, Kings Corners, Slapjack, Spit, and War. By some small miracle, or rather Lady Luck, she and Jenny had won most of the games. Any game involving skill and a poker face, which they thankfully didn't play, would have been won by Seth. Hands down. For being such a lighthearted guy with an award-winning smile he had an amazing knack for keeping a straight face and working with cards.

It was fun watching him shuffle the cards.

She'd only made it about an hour into playing before nodding off in Jacob's lap. She'd roused a little when he stood to place her on the sofa and wrap the old afghan around her lower half. She'd drifted for a while in a half conscious state for about an hour. It was enough time to feel Embry kiss her cheek and leave only to be replaced by Paul. He stroked the same cheek Embry had kissed before sitting directly in her line of reach to play War with the others.

She'd roused herself enough after her little power nap to reach forward and scratch at the base of Paul's skull with her nails. The big man stiffened momentarily before shivering with a purr as her nails drew ragged lines through the coarse, almost jelled feeling of his ebony hair. The others shot a look at their brother before smirking and returning to the job of entertaining the six year old.

As odd as it sounded she liked scratching them as much as they seemed to like being scratched. It was strangely relaxing to her. It was also something that she could do that brought them apparent joy without really having to think about doing it.

She kind of felt like a cat sharpening her claws.

Bella stared off into space for a long while just thinking as she encouraged the continued rumbling of the male before her. She thought about everything and nothing at the same time. She considered their relationship for the millionth time in what seemed like forever as well as matters outside of it such as _Brighton's Center_ in Port Angeles and her friends and job a Newton's.

It irked to feel a bit of annoyance at going back to the 'adventure' store. Newton's Olympic Outfitters wasn't a bad store and Mike's mother was a fair boss, but since she'd gotten sick she'd become sufficiently spoiled. She'd been firmly planted on her rump and been waited on hand and foot as far as she was concerned. She didn't really want to go back to work just yet.

She would, though, since she needed to pay for the Study Center. She'd made the decision to go almost as soon as she'd gotten home that Friday night. She needed the help, she was too stubborn to ask Sam for help, and something was calling her to do it. She didn't know what exactly that something was, but she knew better than to shrug off her instincts.

Bella was startled out of her dazed musings by a semi-light weight pouncing on her waist and legs. She huffed dramatically as her head turned to take in Jenny's wearing-down form. It had taken most of the day, but she finally seemed to be calming down. Bella didn't know if the energy had been a result of her own rambunctious nature or if she had been fed excessive amounts of sugar that morning, which she would have felt like reprimanding her and Jared's parents for had that been the case. If the energy was something entirely 'Jenny' then Bella knew she'd be doomed for any subsequent visits with the child after this day.

She was tuckered out!

"Wanna play, Bella?"

She patted the girl's hand, which was lying over her hip. "No, honey. Not those games, anyway." She bit her lip and thought for a long moment before turning her attention to the guys with a sure sparkle in her eyes. "Do you guys have any string here? Anywhere from one and a half to two and a half feet long?"

"Uhm?" Sam puckered his eyebrows a little before he snapped his fingers. "Sure thing. Let me go check the office. I think I saw some there the other day."

"Why do you need string?" Jenny asked as Bella shifted so that she could settle between her splayed legs on the couch. She pulled the afghan up and set it over them both instinctually. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the guys summing her up and narrowly missed the pride and heat targeted at her for her actions.

"Have you ever played Cat's Cradle?" At her baffled look Bella beamed. "My Gamma showed me when I was a little girl. Once you learn how to do what I do you can show your friends. It's really neat."

Sam returned shortly with a length of tightly woven white string about two feet long. Bella took it thankfully and tied the ends together before setting her thumbs and forefingers to each corner in front of Jenny. "Watch." She commanded gently as she moved her hands in the patterns required for making the Cat's Cradle.

"Show me! Show me!" She cried excitedly. Bella giggled a little as she undid the mess of strings swiftly and smoothly before placing Jenny's fingers in the exact same starting positions as hers had been in.

"Now just follow me. Ask if you want me to do it again, okay? It took a long time for me to learn to play this game." Once Jenny nodded Bella commenced in the teaching.

Her heart swelled a little when Jenny leaned back heavier into her abdomen and chest.

She hoped her gasp of nearly pained delight wasn't noticeable to anyone other than her.

* * *

><p>Jared wanted nothing more than to make Bella completely his in that very moment.<p>

His little mate had welcomed his sister into her arms as if she had always belonged there and it made his love for her bloom to uncomfortable proportions. If he hadn't felt like worshipping the ground she walked upon before, he certainly did now.

She was perfect.

He didn't know how his brothers were able to deny their love for her now that he'd admitted it to himself. It seemed impossible. Isabella Swan was the epitome of everything any of them could ever want in a female. She was beautiful, compassionate, feisty, smart, and adorably shy. He was constantly fighting the urge to swaddle her in cotton and wanting to ravage her petite body until her ability to walk on her own was made an impossibility.

He'd enjoy carrying her around, anyway. She didn't need her legs.

It eased his madness a little to know that he wasn't alone in his feelings for her. Seth, the little prick, had no problems rubbing it in him and Quil's faces that he was the first one to see her 'true value'. Still, he appreciated the fact that he wasn't the only one in love with her irrevocably. He felt better sharing her knowing that it wasn't just the imprint drawing them in to her. He still felt pangs of jealousy, which he was beginning to think was more possessive instinct than believing Bella wanted any of his brothers more than him, but by sharing minds on patrol and having to _fully_ become a pack in order to keep their mate with them went a long way to calming his inner dick-head.

While Bella taught his sister to do different tricks with the string Seth doled out the cards so that they could play Poker. While they played he kept only a small piece of him aware of the game at hand. Even little Jenny only took up a part of his awareness. His world, as of that moment and every moment for the rest of his Supernatural life, placed Bella smack-dab in the center of his conscious and subconscious thought.

He wasn't entirely certain how he might describe the pull he had to her to anyone that was outside of the imprint and shapeshifter community. He and his wolf were tuned entirely into her. She could not breathe differently without him registering it, processing it, making corrections if he felt he needed to do so, and then logging it away for future reference. As corny as it sounded, she was his Sun, moon, and stars. She was the very essence of his being…only she was separated from him physically. He knew for a fact that he could not survive without her in his life. He'd die with her and for her…willingly.

_Spirits, I love her!_

His ear twitched a little as Bella began to hum under her breath as Jenny tried to mimic her earlier hand movements. It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life. It was kind of husky, deep, and reminded him of hot and heavy loving. He conjured the image of her lying under him, deliciously bare from head to toe, his hands pinning her fanned-out hair down to the mattress, hers clawing into his shoulders, and looking down into her eyes as they darkened from the pounding of his dick in her heavenly pussy.

_Down boy!_ He yelled at himself as he was forced to shift his weight where he sat in order to relieve, futile as it may be, the blooming ache in his cutoffs. It seemed like he was perpetually hard whenever she was around.

Jared considered Embry's talk with her earlier. He hadn't heard her assessment, but he'd known his brother was going to ask her to come with them to Seattle to pick up their appliances. They'd planned it out before Sam had gotten her up that morning. They wanted her with them as much as possible and going to Seattle would have been torture without her. Without the bloodsuckers around they could risk a day-trip to the nearby city without too much worry for the Tribe, but they still wanted their mate close.

His eyes darted to the silvered crescent moon shapes adorning her right wrist. His inner wolf howled with desperation whenever he looked at it. He wanted to shift and curl around her to keep her safe from everyone and everything around them. It sickened and enraged him to know that one of those fangers had bitten his mate.

He wasn't an idiot. None of them were. They'd all known about the bite. Sam had discovered it first and relayed it all to them upon their first shift. The mark carried a coolness that disturbed him, as if that part of her body had died and would never come back, and radiated a darkness that he inherently wanted to rid the world of. None of them knew how she'd survived as a human after being bitten, but knew it had happened after her disappearance and return at the end of the last school year. Sam had been a wolf then, had heard about the bite from Billy, and knew that she hadn't gotten all of her wounds and broken bones from falling down the stairs. She'd been attacked and bitten, but they could do nothing about it since she hadn't been in their territory at the time.

He wanted to burn the marbled flesh of whatever vamp it was that bit her, marred her perfection, and make deadly certain that she would have no reason to fear for her life in that way ever again.

He shook himself of his roiling thoughts before bringing his mind back to the shopping trip. They all wanted her to come, not only for her presence, but to choose things to put a bit of herself into this place. They wanted her to feel completely at home here since it _was_ going to be her home.

Soon.

They had all talked about it that morning while Bella was asleep nestled safely between Jacob's paws. They'd all shifted to wolf so that they could converse freely and fully. They wanted her in their home, _this_ home, and her future home within a month. That would give them the amount of time needed to get the place set to perfection for her comfort.

Their true obstacle was convincing Bella that she belonged in their home and getting Charlie Swan to think so, too.

He didn't even want to think about the Hell that they were going to have to face with getting their mate's father to accept them in her life after they got _her_ accustomed to the idea.

Bella's foot dropped out from under her afghan when Jenny shifted between her legs so that they could do another trick and Paul instantly reached back to pull the extra material back over the freed appendage. Jared knew by that unconscious action that any one of them reacted in the same way to Bella's wants and needs. It wasn't thought-out or done in an effort to lure her into a trap. They just wanted the absolute best for her.

…Even if only three of them had given in to the inevitable and admitted their love for the young woman.

He was jerked roughly from his musings by a howl off in the distance. Bella and Jenny heard it, too, but only Bella seemed troubled by it. Jenny had been informed that there were 'wolves' running around the Reservation, but not that they were actually he and his 'brothers' in their other form. She was too young and they couldn't trust her not to spill the beans to her other friends. Even as a child something that outrageous could have a chance of being taken for a truth by some people.

The howl was short and chopped off into a series of elongated barks. He, Jake, and Paul stood and moved for the front door. The call wasn't one of their assigned howls to signal a vampire or other equal danger, but one to tell those not shifted that there was something that needed to be seen or smelled by the others. There was a rush to the call, but no urgency.

"What's going on?" Bella asked of the three remaining seated peacefully in the living room. She didn't sound overly worried so he was able to keep his feet moving. He would have been unable to hold himself back from comforting her if she had shown any real signs of distress.

"They're going to go check in with Embry," Seth explained calmly as he gathered up the discarded playing cards on the floor since their current game would be cancelled. "It's nothing to worry about. Now why don't you come down here with Jenny and show me how to make that Witch's Broom?"

As soon as they'd left the house, the sounds of their mate getting situated with his brother acting as a soothing balm to his wolf, they shifted, picked up Embry's scent and mind-print, and ran for him.

_What's going on?_ Jake demanded stiffly, his mind sifting through every image and memory that Embry shot at them.

_Oh shit._ They all echoed at the same time.

Embry's patrol had gone normally enough. He'd run off a hunter chasing after deer when it wasn't the season for it. He'd scented something a little different in the woods, but it brought no twinges to his 'Hunt' senses. Paul supplied offhandedly that the smell was of Misses Jensen, a local woman, making pauperize. It was a new hobby of hers, apparently.

Just minutes before he'd sent out the howl, though, he'd caught a very familiar, unique scent. The ones emitting it were an unknown, but the base behind it they all knew.

Shapeshifter.

Embry had then taken off at a full run to where he still stood, monitoring. It was a clearing near to the ocean where a lot of the local Rez kids liked to party. Any one of them knew it well enough by now. There wasn't a single person on the Reservation that hadn't been to Midnight Ridge. A couple dozen kids milled around in the mostly bare clearing and spent their time drinking, illegally if their physical ages were any indication, and chowing down on hotdogs and hamburgers.

Two boys, however, stood out from the crowd.

They were both taller than their peers by a few inches at least, around the lower six-foot range. They were as deeply tanned as any of he and his brothers, their hair still long, but filling out with muscle in obvious places. The air around them sparked with the oncoming first-shift. Jared could smell the wolf in them through Embry and knew for certain that their pack was going to get larger.

_Shit. Those leeches didn't leave soon enough. They triggered the gene in the kids._ He spoke to the others as they all converged on Embry's location. They needed to see for their own eyes, even if sharing a collective mind was just as good, what had been found.

_Not kids._ Jake inserted with a huff. _Seth knows them. Brady Fuller, the one with the mole above his right brow, and Collin Littlesea, the one with the scar over the bridge of his nose. Seniors. They're eighteen. Work at the Diner in town._

Images of the 'kids' working around the Rez and kicking back with Seth before their youngest pack-brother's shift on the beach flicked through their minds. One saw, they all saw. Jared had only ever seen them in passing and it looked like only Seth had really had any real contact with the duo.

Paul growled suddenly and had to pull away from the tree line to avoid being spotted by the Normals. His mind whirled with a singular, horrid, purely unacceptable thought and they all had to retreat to keep their own bodies hidden from the Normals while they snarled off their aggression.

_I ain't sharing her!_ Paul snapped, snarled, and growled uncontrollably.

Jared knew what his brother meant. He was imagining the duo, when they shifted, imprinting on _their_ mate. His wolf, inward and outward, broke out into full snarls, hackles raised and skin rippling. He had never felt this reaction before…not exactly. Knowing that he was going to have to share Bella with his six other current pack-mates had made him apprehensive, a tad bit jealous, and bothered to some degree, but he had been able to accept it.

_This_, he couldn't.

He didn't want the two lusting after his mate once they'd shifted. He didn't want them even looking at her unless it was platonically. She could be the Alpha female to them…a den-mother or sister, but he would sooner skin them of their fur ten times over before he let them so much as sniff around her wrong. He would pull their ass-holes through their mouths if they even contemplated kissing her pink lips. Their eyes would bleed out after he'd gouged their eyes from their skulls for even looking at her in a sexual way.

He hadn't liked that Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley around his mate at the bonfire, but this was something complete primal and uncontrollable. He would have gutted those Normal males, made them suffer for lusting after her, but another Supernatural, a shapeshifter, sniffing after his mate wouldn't do. They were competition that had to be dealt with immediately and harshly.

Jacob, Seth, Embry, Paul, Sam, and Quil could have her, too. They could love her and help him keep her safe and happy, but any other male around her would die. He would see to it.

_I don't think they'll imprint on Isabella_. His Prime inserted a little harshly as his own raging instincts slowly ebbed away. They all cocked a proverbial brow towards him looking for an explanation. _You thought it just now, Jared…we didn't feel this animalistic when any one of us claimed her as mate. Yet with the kids we're going rabid. Deep down we don't like it and I think that might mean that we don't have to worry about the hokey-bullshit of sharing her between two more brothers._

_How long?_ Embry snapped, obviously still agitated. All their eyes drifted back towards where the partygoers, and future pack-mates, were now hidden.

_It's early still. I give it about a month._ Paul offered gruffly. He and Jared had shifted the closest to the time that Sam did and had learned the way of their first shifts. The whole process of their physical forms changing over for the initial shift took approximately five weeks. The height came first. After that their musculature would increase and then their senses would improve very slightly. The fever would break out one week before the first shift. Following the initial phase their bodies would have expanded and filled out to accommodate the wolf fully. The first five weeks were just a slow work-up to the ultimate change.

Brady and Collin only looked about a week into their change.

_We'll be safe to leave next weekend since their bodies wouldn't be able to handle a shift so soon, but we need a plan._ Jake stalked forward in a much calmer state now that only Paul seemed to be chuffing irritably and affecting their own emotions. Jared came to flank his Prime with Embry on the other side. They all eyed the two boys warily. _They're going to need supervision. Their parents will need to be informed once they shift. I think it might be best if we get them involved in our pack sooner rather than later. This way we'll get used to them and hopefully won't react as violently when they are around Bella._

"_Not gonna happen._" Paul's wolf snorted with a shake of his silver muzzle. _You know as well as I do, Black, that unless those two act in a strictly brotherly capacity with Bella that we'll never know a moment of peace. We're going to be worse than rabid dogs that need to be put down. It'd be a mercy to be taken out like Old Yeller was after we had the chance to teach those pups some lessons in pack hierarchy_.

_Shut up, Paul_. Jared lifted a lip to show off his jagged canines in displeasure to his brother. The other male's shoulders 'shrugged' even as dismissal poured through their shared connection.

_We'll talk with Seth once they've settled on who's taking taking Bella home. He's closest to them and hopefully we can get him to bring them into the fold early._ Jake sauntered off after a lingering moment, his mind already tracing through the internal maps leading towards the Drop where they often cliff-dived. He'd patrol until the others joined them.

Jared sniffed at the air, taking in each nuance of scent being emitted from Brady and Collin. He'd need to remember their scent specifically. They would become pack-mates very soon. He would be forced to be around them a lot and share a collective mind with them. And of course that meant that they'd be around his sweet mate more…

_Hold the phone,_ he whispered internally as the proverbial light bulb switched on. The others pinged in on his tendrils of genius thought immediately.

"_You can't be serious._" Paul grumbled in an exasperated way, but was almost intrigued. He weighed out the pros and cons of Jared's idea and found it adequate. He was game.

_It could work._ Embry tilted his grey and speckled head considering. _They'll be pack and they are eighteen._

_Can we pull it off at this time of year?_ Jake wondered, already going over every regulation he could remember that had been laid down in the past. Hope bloomed in his Alpha and passed along the connection to him and his brothers.

Suddenly having two new pack-mates didn't seem like such a bad thing.

_I'm a prodigy, really._ Jared gloated even as they all busied themselves with making up 'Plan A' and all of its contingencies.

* * *

><p>Two hours later Seth and Quil had joined in on their scheming as Bella and Jenny were being returned home by Sam in face of the late hour. The two had thrown a tantrum as Jared and his brothers had upon discovering the soon-to-be pack-mates still partying it up miles away and considering the idea of having to share Bella amongst more wolves.<p>

They despised the idea as much as any of them had.

It fueled Jake's belief that the duo would not be a part of their unique relationship with _their_ mate.

Jared could only hope the larger wolf was right.

Seth had agreed to talk to the two males and draw them into the pack without giving anything away. He'd been skeptical at first until '_The Plan_' had been relayed to him. With a little thought he'd all but thrown himself onboard their little train of cunning superiority. Quil wasn't far behind.

They ran patrol seamlessly together, reaching the far-away edges of their territories, and placing the final touches on '_The Plan_' when rampant lust and barely suppressed annoyance flooded through them.

Sam had joined them.

_Dude, what the fuck?_ Quil roared inwardly as Jared whimpered as his penis hardened and lengthened from the protective hood surrounding it in the time it took to blink. That shit was painful!

_She teased me!_ Sam Uley howled angrily and in partial disbelief. _What kind of sick punishment is this? I didn't do anything bad enough to deserve this._

Jared fell into his Beta's memories of the drive back to Bella's home. Bella had been talking with Sam very calmly from the passenger seat about her life when Sam prodded her for answers. She'd smiled and laughed a little when Sam told her something she found amusing. It had been seemingly perfect for Sam. He had wallowed in her joy and Jared found himself practically preening in the relayed emotions as if it had been _he_ that had returned his mate home.

Then they'd arrived at the Swan residence.

The Chief's car was absent and Bella explained that the text she'd gotten from her father just after Embry had called them out of the house was informing her that he'd be out until about ten playing poker with his Deputy. It had been eight-thirty at the time.

Sam was thrilled.

The Beta had helped Bella out of her truck as all of them tended to do. He had been content to ask her to maybe take a walk with him and chat a little more, just for the pleasure of being in her company as long as possible, but she'd surprised him. She'd shaken her head in the negative when he'd given her his request, but squashed the disappointment rising in him by reaching up to stroke her hand over his right cheek.

* * *

><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

* * *

><p>Sam had shuddered and grunted as he came and found his arms turning to jello beside his head…and yet he wanted to give Bella he pleasure. He needed to.<p>

The little hellion had another plan.

She smirked down at the male beneath her triumphantly before pecking him on the lips chastely. Sam was floored and fighting exhaustion as she pulled away from him. Her chuckle was almost evil.

"Sammy…never leave me in the dark again when we attract an audience. I'll make sure you pay for it." Too stunned to move Sam felt her kiss him in a patronizing way on the tip of his nose before leaping to her feet with grace he had never seen before from her. "Have fun with that mess, Sammy…you're going to be making good friends with your hand for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the ride home!"

With that she'd darted off, slipped into her home, and locked the door with a resolute 'click'. Sam had lain there for several minutes more in open-mouthed astonishment before heat suffused him. It was mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Fucking siren!" He had roared, lunged to his feet, sent a scalding and desirous look at the lone house, before bounding into the trees. He hadn't been able to control himself enough to take off his clothes and ended up ripping them in his hasty shift.

His cock had engorged itself for a second time once he was changed over with thoughts of his little cock-tease playing with him again. Jared was impressed by the stamina and recovery time of the other male. He wondered vaguely if he had the same ability. He didn't think on it too hard since he figured that it was a wolf trait.

_But damn!_ He could have never believed his sweet little mate was capable of such a thing. He feared her wrath being dished out onto his plate as much as he looked forward to it.

_Too bad the price to pay is so high._ Paul snickered just imagining how many times their Beta was going to have to jack-himself off in the days to come…possibly even weeks.

Sam whimpered.

Jared chuffed with laughter as he abandoned patrol to head for the beach. He needed a cold dip after that little trip down memory lane.

_Now how do I make that little she-devil come out without pissing her off?_ He thought to himself even as the others echoed the query. He wanted her passion, not her fury.

Now that they knew of the seductress hidden down in the depths of their innocent mate's soul they would do everything in their power to fuel it to the surface. They'd have her panting and biting for control in no time. And they'd take extreme delight in making her work for it.

When they weren't making slow, agonizing love to her, anyway.

_Hmm. What a wonderful turn of events._

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Sorry about the wait. It's been hectic at work with the holidays and end-of-the-year quotas to meet. And about a week and a half ago my computer got a virus (Win 7 Internet Security) that blocked all uses to my computer by trying to make me buy a fake anti-virus for an extravagant amount of money. The only place I could take it to to get it fixed was Best Buy and they charged me $200 and kept my computer for seven days. Total crap if you ask me. Stay away from CA Internet Security if anyon tells you to get it...from what happened to my computer I found that it doesn't work...at all. Just my opinion.

Anywho, I'll tell everyone this now…_**BRADY AND COLLIN WILL NOT BE BELLA'S MATES, TOO!**_ I want that to be clear right now. There'll be people that'll leave comments on it because they don't read the Author's Notes, but this will hopefully appease most of you. I may be updating again in the next few days since I have a break from work for the next week and a half. I won't promise anything, though.

Hope you liked the chapter and review if/when you can. They make my day. As always, keep it clean towards each other and I hope you enjoy any other stories you come across on FanFiction. Best wishes and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that jazz.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	15. Chapter 15: The Darkness Inside

**Chapter Fifteen: The Darkness Inside**

Sam Uley knocked on the front door of the Swan residence a little nervously, though he tried to keep it out of his stance. Hopeless, really. His feet shuffled a little on the porch as his ears picked up movement from inside the house.

"Will you get that, Dad? I need to get this bacon off the pan." His mate's naturally sultry voice sent a pang of lust straight to his groin and another shot to his heart. A snickering voice in the back of his mind informed him that if he was going to hand his balls over to the temptress inside he might as well take a trip down to the supply store to pick up a leash to go with them. He felt like a real schmuck.

"Sure thing, Bells."

Charlie Swan came to the door dressed in grey sweatpants and a police-force t-shirt. His eyes were slightly assessing as they always were whenever any of them came by the house, but he nodded to Sam despite any wariness he knew the elder man felt. The man stepped aside to allow him room to enter the quaint little house.

"How are you today, son?" Charlie asked him as he shut the door behind them, cutting off the slight chill in the air. It was a cool day today. He'd worn his dark-wash jeans and a nice button-up he'd gotten from a slightly pricier shop the last time he'd been in Port Angeles. It was a blue plaid piece with black embroidering in the collar. Normally he shopped online if he needed clothes or went to a town shop, but his usual attire was cut-off jeans. That was the extent of his day-to-day wardrobe. Fashion sense and fitting in with the general populace wasn't that big a deal. If they needed to mainstream with the Normals they'd wear t-shirts and jeans. Maybe a jacket.

They all bought from 'Roar' when they needed clothing to fit a 'higher' standard.

They rarely needed to fit into a higher standard.

"Just fine, Charlie. How are you and Bella?" Of course he already knew the answer due to the twenty-four-seven vigil they kept on the beauty in the kitchen, but the Chief didn't know that. They all hoped he wouldn't know until they were forced to come clean about their shifter status.

"Good, good." He waved towards the kitchen. "Why don't you go in and help Bella out. I need to take a shower before she gets the food out and ready."

"No problem."

Sam watched as the Chief disappeared up the stairs before sauntering off to see his mate.

Bella stood in front of the spitting stove, deftly flipping pancakes and frying bacon. She gave him a small smile over her shoulder before returning to her work. His eyes scanned over her slight frame and had to force himself to stay back.

Bella was currently wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, something he hadn't even thought she'd owned since she preferred bootleg or wide-cut, which hugged her ripe ass and long legs decadently. The bottom of her pants were tucked neatly into a pair of low-heeled, tan leather boots with a buckle to the outsides. Her top was what he knew to be a 'cowl-neck', white, grey, and black, short-sleeved sweater. The top looked fantastic on her and just enhanced her womanly figure. His smirk grew when he saw that she'd pulled her hair back with the barrette he'd made and given to her. It hung in loose strands down her back and begged to be caressed by his greedy fingers.

"Want any help?" He asked in attempt to distract himself from his raging erection.

"Can you slice those bagels for me?" She shrugged her right shoulder to indicate the pile of six bagels on the counter a little ways away from where she was standing. "They're raisin-bran. It's healthier than the regular set, but the store here doesn't have pre-cut."

Sam nodded and moved up beside where she stood. The knife set on the counter behind the bagels made his eyes widen. It looked like a hybrid between a samurai sword and steak knife. Bella chuckled at him before teasingly bumping her plusher hip into his thigh.

"Don't look so shocked. They're the best knives for bagels. Clean cuts. You only get a few crumbs."

"You use this?" He held the knife up beside his head with still wide eyes. At her nod he frowned deeply. "No more. I don't want you touching this. You could get hurt."

"I'm more at risk behind the wheel of my truck, you dunderhead!" Her scowl didn't lessen her splendor any, but he found himself fighting back a disgruntled growl. He didn't want her around anything that could hurt her as much as he knew a knife like this could. Hell, he didn't even want her with a smaller steak knife, but of course that was a fight he'd lose. She loved to cook and he couldn't in good conscience, or with maintaining his manly pride…a.k.a Junior…ban her from the kitchen. He didn't want her near this size a knife, though.

"Bella," he rumbled, the hair rising on his arms. The grease in the frying pan spit out and seared his skin, though he didn't flinch. It felt like a bug-bite to him.

"Don't start with me, Samuel Uley. I can take care of myself and you have no say over me in the damn kitchen. Now you can either slice those bagels so I don't have to use that so-called dangerous weapon or you can sit down and shut up."

Sam pushed the aforementioned knife away from him on the counter before snapping his arms around his mate's torso. One arm kept her frail ones pinned to her sides while the other cut up between her breasts so that he could cup his hand around her chin with her back pressed tightly against his chest. He tugged her away from the spitting pan so that the grease couldn't lick at her delicate flesh and mar its perfection. Her heart beat a rapid, harsh tempo against his forearm as his lips fell to the shell of her ear. A growl rumbled through his chest into her smaller form. He felt her shiver.

"Don't sass me, Bella." He warned her, his tone deeper and harsher than normal. She struggled in his hold, but they both knew she wouldn't be moving unless he allowed her to. "I'm trying to look after you and I don't appreciate your lip." He bit her ear sharply and was rewarded with an 'eep' and whimper of pain. "Behave, angel, and I won't have to punish you."

"You're being ridiculous, though." She argued softly, her head bent as far away from his mouth as she could get it. Did she really think that would keep him away? "I'm a klutz, but I'm not hopeless."

"I know you're not, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to protect you." He flicked his wrist, which was still cupping her chin, so that her head was forced to sit up straight once more. His lips caressed her nape. "I'm being lenient, Bella. I keep my mouth shut about a lot of things so I expect you to listen when I do speak."

"You _expect_," she snapped, her feet stamping heavily in an attempt to hit his sneakered feet, no doubt.

"_Yes_," he nipped her neck before kissing the hurt away, "I _do_ expect you to listen and behave. I don't ask too much, Bella. I could be a lot worse than I am. We all could. I'll let this time slip, but I'm not going to allow you to snap at me for wanting to take care of you."

He released her slowly, carefully, so that she wouldn't stumble. As she moved to get away from him he thrust both hands forwards to set one over her stomach while the other swatted her ass five times…_hard_.

"Ow!" She yelled in both shock and pain when he'd stopped and moved back to the bagels. Out of the corner of his eyes Sam could see her rubbing at her posterior with both hands. Her face was a perfect mix of shock, anger, pain, and disbelief. "Why'd you do that?"

"You'll get a lot worse, Bella, if you don't listen." The look he shot her was significant. "We're not going to put up with disobedience from you anymore, little one. No more warnings. The next time you do something you know you're not supposed to you're going over our laps. We've been too lenient with you and it ends now."

Bella gaped at him cutely for so long that he had to take over flipping the bacon for her. It sizzled and cracked loudly. Its Maplewood scent nearly overpowered her citrus one, along with her whirling emotions, but his nose was stronger than that. He was convinced that he'd always be able to smell her even if someone smeared Vicks Vapor-Rub directly under his nose.

Eventually his angel moved forward on soft feet and used her tiny hands to push him away from the stove. Feeling her feather-light touch had an immediate hazardous effect on his already stiff manhood.

_Ah, fuck! I wonder how serious she was about making me take care of myself?_

"Please move." The demure words made a groan threaten to erupt from him. His female was capable of great strength and mischievousness, as she had proved the night before, but when she was like this…an act or not…he was hard-pressed not to pull her under the shelter of his body, love her until her legs could no longer support her, and then fawn over her while she was confined to her bed. She'd be his pampered angel and he'd make sure she enjoyed it. He'd make her need it. Need him.

Like he needed her.

He wanted her to love him like he…

_Oh shit,_ he thought, feeling like he'd been hit upside his head by a ten-ton shaft of metal. All of his air rushed out of him in a single second and his hands shook. His shift wasn't looming on the horizon, but he did feel dangerously close to falling to his knees in front of Isabella Swan and thrusting his face into the soft swell of her abdomen.

_I think…I think I fell in love with her._

"Sam?" Bella's voice tried to cut through his thoughts, but he was only able to react on instinct. He twisted around and looked down at her wide doe eyes. His heart panged and tugged when she traced her fingers worriedly over his jaw. He could remember clearly what scenting her for the first time had been like…how his wolf had reacted, but it was something entirely different and greater now.

His human side had reconciled with the wolf side.

He loved Bella Swan.

His arms lashed out and this time when he pulled her to him he made sure that she was entirely encompassed by him. Her feet hung off the ground so far that she was forced to wrap them around his waist. His right hand supported her heated bottom, courtesy of his five swats, while the other snaked behind her head in her hair. Her hands were trapped between their chests where he could feel them wiggling nervously. He breathed in her scent at her neck and shuddered.

"Sam, you're scaring me." Her words caused a purr to bubble up in his chest to calm her down. He didn't smell fear in her, perhaps a bit of anxiety, but not fear. Still, he didn't want her feeling anything but content, especially in his arms. He rocked her gently as if she were a child and kept up his drone. His ears stayed tuned onto Charlie Swan, who by that time was finished with his shower and shaving, and allowed himself to enjoy Bella and his revelation for as long as he possibly could.

He thought of the mother he never had the chance to know and his absent father. He'd felt empty for so long. He hadn't had the familial love that his brothers had. He had Billy, Harry, and Big Quil while he was growing up, but none of them were really his father. They weren't entirely solid fixtures in his life. They could never be. He loved them all in a way, just as he loved his brothers, but what he felt now was something else entirely. He'd kill and die for any of his pack, but for Bella he'd do so much more.

_Oh Spirits!_ In the flash of an instant she became his world. He wanted to shape everything around them just for her to make her happy and comfortable. He wanted her smiles. Her laughs. He wanted her to never have to lift a finger again if she didn't want to…unless of course it was to carry his children.

_Their_ children.

It startled him a little to feel suddenly okay with his packmates being imprinted with Bella. He knew instinctually that any children Bella might have would belong to all of them despite biological parentage. She was their mate and in turn any of her children would belong to him and the others equally. They couldn't have a tug-of-war or else there would always be animosity between them. He wouldn't allow that for Bella. She deserved so much better.

"Sam, the bacon's burning." The brunette chided him lightly, her right hand snaking out from between them to reach over his shoulder in an attempt to move the pan off the burner. It was futile. She was elevated and removed from the stove by several feet. Her slender, shorter arms had no hope of even getting near the cooking pan. With his steel-grip on her nape and rump she couldn't even shift enough to wiggle for it.

Not wanting to distress her he removed his hand from her neck, shoved the pan to the cool back-burner, and then returned his grip to her neck and head. She sighed, but remained still in his hold.

Sam wondered if those of his brothers that had already admitted their love for Bella had felt this Gob-smacked. He was fairly certain that they had, but it was something completely different to feel it for himself. He could live on without his pack-mates, but knew that he'd never be able to breathe a single breath past his tiny mate if she passed from this world. She was all that he was and ever would be.

_Love me, Bella_, he thought softly, his nose buried in her hair. _Love me like I love you_.

His ears twitched when he heard the bathroom door open. Charlie was coming.

He moved smoothly to the small kitchen table, pulled a chair out with his foot, and then carefully deposited his angel onto the cushioned seat. She gaped up at him adorably. He placed a tender kiss to her forehead before whipping back towards the stove to take over where she'd left off.

"Smells good, kids." The Chief complimented as he strode into the room moments later. Bella coughed a few times to regain herself.

"Th-thanks, Dad. Uhm," he felt her eyes on his back, "are you sure you're okay with me going out with the guys today?"

"Yes, Bells. I'm sure you'll be safe with them and you'll have fun. It's good that you're making new…friends." Sam's ear twitched at the break in speech, but his lips remained closed. The man knew something…

He worked efficiently and quickly at the stove, tossing the burnt bacon onto several folded pieces of paper-towel destined for the trash later. He served the already made chocolate-chip pancakes and waiting pile of bacon to the duo at the table. He also made sure to bring the coffee pot over to Charlie and fill up a tall glass of milk for Bella while he got himself a glass of orange juice. He'd learned early on that his mate was a big milk drinker and ever since he and the others had given a glass of it to her whenever she was thirsty or wanted something to drink.

They'd been having meals like this since Bella had returned home from being sick. She'd kept her word and convinced her father to allow them over, in smaller groups, to eat with them for some meals during the day. Many of these meals Charlie wouldn't be present for since he worked late hours at the station, but for the ones that he had been present for they all counted it as a point in their favor that the man didn't load the shotgun.

Chief Swan was under the impression that Bella had just made a few new friends and gotten reacquainted with old ones. He had been twitchy at first, but after meeting them all the man seemed to have calmed down some. It was apparent that he didn't like his daughter hanging out with so many men, but he hadn't said anything against it.

Yet.

"Thank you," Bella mumbled as Sam took the seat next to the right of her with his own plate.

Sam eyed Bella carefully as she filled her plate with a slightly smaller-than-normal portion of food. She only had two small pancakes and a couple pieces of bacon. He wanted to pull a Paul and tug her onto his lap where he could force her to eat more, but with her father around he had no way of doing so without having his head blown off. He'd just have to sit back and let her be for the time being.

"Did you get everything worked out with Mrs. Brighton?" Charlie asked his daughter curiously as he took the bottle of maple syrup after Bella had drizzled it over her own pancakes.

"Yeah. I'll have two sessions per week, Tuesday and Thursday, at the Center starting this upcoming week. I pay the first month in advance, but after that it's an end-of-the-month payment kind of thing." She forked a portion of pancake into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully before speaking again. "I'm kind of excited. If this all works out I might be able to get through Finals this year without having a panic attack."

"Panic attack?" Sam asked a little frantically, his three strips of bacon suspended inches away from his mouth. His mind kicked the older man's presence out of the picture in the face of his female's possible distress and physical weakness. He and his brothers knew about Bella going out to Port Angeles for the next few months for studying, had come to a shaky agreement that she deserved enough of their trust to go alone, but they sure as Hell didn't know about this!

She shrugged coolly. "They're not bad. I get nervous and jittery, don't wanna sit down, and usually get a bit dizzy because my breathing messes up a bit. I don't get them often. Only during Final Exams and things like that if I'm worried about not passing."

"It's minor, Sam." Charlie tried to assure him. His voice was just as casual as Bella's had been. "Renee has them as well. All the girls have had to do is lie down and do a few breathing exercises. Bella usually just takes a nap once she gets calmed down enough and she's fine afterwards."

He didn't like this. It made him nervous…anxious. Even scared. He furrowed his brow and made a mental note to check up on the internet about these 'panic attacks'. He knew _what_ they were, but not much more than that. He didn't want Bella suffering through them alone whether they were easy to deal with or not. He would do his best to keep stressors away from the girl, as he knew the others would, but if she happened to have an attack he wanted to know about every avenue he could take to make her feel better.

He wouldn't tolerate his mate being anything less than perfect.

"I haven't had a panic attack since a few months before I left Phoenix." She grinned sweetly at him and he could see her eyes twinkle. "I'm kinda weird. I can go through a handful of tragedies with only a few sobbing tears, but one little bad grade and I'm gasping. You'd think my brain could see the difference between the important things and the ho-hum stuff."

Sam chose to remain silent and push the bacon between his lips to keep it that way. He'd end up saying something stupid and most likely rude, otherwise.

"Karen's figured out your schedule, too, right Bells?"

"Yeah. Saturday mornings starting next week from nine 'til two and Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays I'll be on from four 'til nine. It's not much, about a hundred-and-sixty a week, bit it'll work-out in the end. Newton's isn't all that bad. At least it's not a McDonalds. There's nothing worse than coming home every day smelling like fryer grease."

And there was yet another issue he needed to solve. He didn't like her working. He could possibly handle her working as something she wanted to work as, but it was obvious that she did not enjoy her time at the Outfitters. She had them now. They all earned their own incomes and could support her easily. Adding in the Inherited Pack Fund Bella could easily lie around the house all day if that was what she wanted. All she needed to do was say the word and she'd never have to step foot in the Newton's shop again.

He cursed his Prime for promising her that they wouldn't give her things. The way he saw it was that she was unused to being spoiled and pampered. She had gotten accustomed to taking care of her own mother and being without her father even when she was younger due to his job. She gave and gave and got so little in return. She had a self-worth problem that he was determined to break her of.

As soon as he figured out a way around it he was going to start doting on her with material things besides being her emotional rock. He'd keep to his Prime's word only as far as that promise extended. Once the ban was lifted Bella was going to be spoiled and she was going to learn to enjoy herself.

Bella and her father chatted for some time longer as they ate with him throwing comments in every now and then. Occasionally Charlie would direct a question towards him, mainly about how the Rez was fairing internally. The man ran his own patrols in La Push with his cruiser since the Reservation didn't have its own Force, but it helped to have an 'insiders' opinion.

By the time breakfast was finished Bella rose to her feet, stumbling a little with the short heels she obviously wasn't used to wearing, and cleared the table. He would have risen to help her since she had been the one to cook, but a grizzled hand on his shoulder stopped him short.

Charlie Swan was giving him a harsh look.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, son?" His eyes shot to where Bella had frozen by the sink before landing back onto him.

"Yes, sir."

Sam allowed himself to be escorted to the front of the house where the man opened the front door and joined him on the front porch. He kept his spine straight and hands behind his back like some trained soldier while Charlie crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at him with intensity.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?"

_Fuck. I didn't think he'd bring it up this quick._

"I don't…" He tried only to have his words die off at seeing the Chief raise his hand for silence.

"I'm old, boy, not stupid. Bella says you all are just friends, but you obviously want more. The others, too." His hands flexed tightly several times in agitation before fixing the most malevolent glare humanly possibly onto him. Had he not been built for incredible feats of all things Supernatural Sam might have found his knees quaking. As it was he just widened his stance to keep from stepping back. "She's my daughter, boy. I didn't care for that Cullen boy, but I let them be because it was what Bella wanted. She got hurt in the end. I don't intend to ever see her like that again."

Sam appraised the man seriously. For the first time he saw the reason beyond his cool head and sense of responsibility why the people of Forks and La Push elected him year after year as Chief of Police. The man radiated a kind of power and control that, to his wolf, would have translated into Alpha. Maybe even Prime. He knew to respect this man for being more than just his mate-to-be's father. He was a leader in his own right and he deserved at least a modicum of respect from him.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know what is going on in your head or any of the others, but I'm going to make myself clear right now…any of you hurt my girl in any way and I'm going to forget the fact that I'm supposed to uphold the law in this town." Sam nodded his head firmly to show the man that he was understood. Had Bella been his daughter he would be just as protective of her if not more-so. "She may be eighteen now and legally able to do what she wants, Mr. Uley, but she'll _always_ be my daughter. _Never_ forget that."

He stood stock still and watched the older man stride surely and steadily into his own home. He remained behind as the sound of two approaching vehicles had caught his attention. His pack mates were arriving.

His eyes raked over his relatively new Ford Expedition sitting behind Bella's truck and the cruiser. It was a deep metallic red closer to burgundy. Its size came in handy when he found driftwood pieces down on the beach or bought scrap from traders across the country. He had had an older truck before he'd shifted and had been willing enough to keep using it, but the engine block had broken and it had just made more sense to get a newer, reliable vehicle than repairing the old one only to have something else cut-out on him. It was a point of pride with him that he'd paid for it in full with the return on a massive sculpture he'd done for a businessman in Seattle only a year before. He hadn't used a single cent of the funds allocated for the pack.

Paul's Silverado and Quil's Terrain rumbled up behind his vehicle. Paul's truck was hitched to a U-Haul big enough for the kitchen appliances and another large enough attached to Quil's for the washer and drier as well as any other bulky pieces they might acquire while in the city that wouldn't fit into the bed of Paul's truck or the cargo space in the SUVs.

"Dad, what did you say to him?" This time he didn't respond to the worry he caught in the angel's voice. He knew that she was anxious about the conversation she hadn't been privy to and it was something that couldn't harm her. He wouldn't get overprotective…not yet anyway.

If he smelled true distress in her scent, though, all bets were off.

"Nothing that you need to worry about, Bells. Do you need help with the dishes before I go to work?" The father brushed the matter aside dismissively. She wasn't having that.

"Why didn't he come back inside? You didn't shoot him did you? I didn't hear a gun go off." Her feet shuffled a little, followed by a moment of silence, and then an affronted gasp. "Daddy! You didn't!"

"It's a mandatory conversation, Bella."

"_Daddy!_"

Sam smirked a little and tuned the ensuing argument down low in favor of addressing his approaching brothers.

"What's got her so upset?" Jake demanded a little gruffly, his hands twitching and flexing in a show of pent-up distaste. The other male, not knowing what had caused the unease in its mate, wanted to run to her and shield her. Had he not been part of the 'warning' he would have been acting exactly the same way.

"The Chief knows. Well, he knows that we aren't just looking for friendship with Isabella." They cocked their brows at him. "I've been warned and I suspect that you all will be, too, to keep ahold of myself. I think that if it came down to it Charlie really would kill us if we posed a threat to her."

"Like we'd ever let anything hurt her." Paul growled, his eyes shining through with the wolf.

"He's more afraid of _us_ hurting her." He couldn't keep the snap from his words. "Of course he doesn't know that we could never hurt her."

"What the Hell are we going to tell him?" Embry displayed his nervous habit of scratching the back of his neck. His eyes constantly darted to the house where Bella was currently scolding her father for acting childishly. "Bella hasn't even accepted what we want. I really don't think her father is going to give in any easier. It doesn't help that he's in an elected position as Chief and his job could be at risk if our relationship got out. That's _not_ in our favor."

"He has his suspicions as far as I can tell, but he won't do or say anything more unless we hurt her. Once we have to come out into the open about this relationship we want with her, though, all bets are gonna be off." Sam huffed and scrubbed a thick hand over his face. "This is so messed up."

"Yeah, no shit." Again Paul showed his infamous short fuse. "No matter what, though, I won't give her up. She's my mate and no one is going to stand in my way when it comes to her. I respect Charlie and all, but as harsh as it sounds he doesn't matter compared to her."

"None of us can let anyone get in our way, you dolt." Jacob rumbled as he shoved past them all to open the front door. "Let's just go in and get our mate. She's going to work herself into a fit if she keeps going."

Sure enough Bella was dogging her father as he gathered his things for work. Her lips were drawn into a tight frown and her hands were wringing fitfully in the excess fabric at the base of her sweater. Sam fought back a smile. Even angry or upset his mate was the cutest thing to grace this Earth.

"Dad!" She hissed again, ignorant of their presences. Either that or she was ignoring them.

"Enough, Bella. We're not fighting about this." The man turned on his heel after clipping his belt around his waist to set his hands on her shoulders. His brown eyes, so much like his daughter's, glistened. "I could have done a lot worse than I did, Bells. A lot. You know that. Now do me a favor and look after yourself while you're in the city. It's a lot different there than here."

"I know, Dad." She patted one of his hands comfortingly. "I lived with Mom, remember? I can take care of myself and I'm sure that if I couldn't the guys would make sure I was looked after."

Charlie's eyes flashed. "Sure, sure. Be good, Bells. Call if you need to." He shot a pointed look at them all before exiting the house with his rifle in hand.

"Are you ready to go, Darlin'?" Embry asked the girl gently. She surveyed them all with a pensive face before sighing and nodding. She moved quickly to dry her hands on the towel hanging over the handle to the stove.

"Would you guys mind stopping by one of the malls while we're out? As much as I loathe shopping for clothes I need some new ones. My old stuff's not fitting anymore."

"Not fitting?" Quil voiced aloud as they followed her like dutiful puppies into the living room. Jared grabbed her coat before she had the chance, motioned for her to turn, and then helped her into it. Seth took the front to button her up and tie the belt.

"I lost some weight since I moved here from Phoenix." They all stiffened and released small growls. Bella rolled her eyes. "It wasn't intentional. I spent a lot of time around the Cullens and they didn't exactly eat much so I didn't think about it when I was around them. Although Edward did tend to hound me about it…no offense."

"None taken." Jared flicked her hair out behind her with a deft flick of his hands. "Seems to me like that bloodsucker wasn't _all_ bad. Still a pussy-whipped leech, though. Should have made _sure_ you were eating properly."

Bella whirled on him instantly, ignoring the shifter still trying to bundle her up, and slapped his chest. Sam winced knowing the force of that hit had to have hurt her more than it did the other male. Her eyes blazed. Any pain she might have been feeling was overshadowed by ire.

"Don't be an ass, Jared. They're vampires. You're shapeshifters. Everyone has their own quirk. No matter what you might think of them and how much Edward hurt me in the end they were good _people_. They helped me as if I was one of their own. They made me feel loved. Nothing you say is going to change that and I would appreciate it if you didn't slander my friends."

"Friends don't leave you abandoned in the woods, Isabella." Jacob argued, his voice a low, throbbing timbre. He saw his female tremble at the tone. "They don't hurt you like that if they're really your friends. I think we have a right to dislike them besides our _prejudices_."

"Don't. Just don't." While Bella's face flared red with anger her words caught in her throat and had him reaching his hand out to restrain his Prime. The younger man shot him a look, his lip curled in a vicious sneer, but then noticed scent of agony rising in the air. It was with a deep breathe outward that he backed off of the softly trembling female. Sam knew that as Beta he shouldn't get in the way of his Alpha especially not after their dominance issue two weeks prior, but when it came to their mate he couldn't stand aside and do nothing. She had to come first. Even before his Prime.

"Hold still, babydoll." Seth cooed into her ear as he finished tying her coat from behind. Bella's lip wobbled and in an instant Sam found himself vibrating with a steady, strong purr. Wolves didn't purr, he knew that logically, but he was eternally grateful that he could do so with his mate as it seemed to have a calming effect on her. It must have been a shifter trait.

His brothers joined in with him automatically.

"They were my friends." She choked, her eyes ducking to stare at the floor morosely.

"No more talking about this, okay?" Seth's hands rose to rub soothingly over her upper arms through the fur. The look he passed them spoke volumes. _Don't push her_. "We'll leave it alone, all right? No crying."

"No more badmouthing them." She mumbled, fiddling with her sleeves.

"No more." They agreed in unison.

As if a switch had been flipped Bella was beaming up at them and took off with a bounce to her step. Their purrs faltered. Sam felt as if he'd been backhanded by a particularly solid two-by-four.

"Thank you. Come on! I'm ready to go!"

They watched her skip out the front door gaily, some with their mouths hanging open, some just frozen solid. Sam, for one, was starting to understand something about his little, innocent, helpless, adorable mate.

…She was anything but innocent, helpless, and adorable.

She was a manipulative, sly, and utterly sexy viper.

"She really needs a spanking." He snarled to the others before charging after his squealing female.

Was it just him, or did she look a little like a baby bunny-rabbit in that coat of hers?

And that's when it hit him…

"Bella! Put your hood up!"

* * *

><p>Bella felt distinctly like curling up in a fetal position in the corner of her changing stall and never coming back out. One reason she didn't, at least the <em>main<em> reason that was flashing like a neon sign in her mind, was because she knew one of or all of her waiting men would raise their hackles and bust in looking for her if she didn't appear in a timely manner. Then she'd be bundled up like the baby they apparently thought she was, take her back to their home, and coo over her until they thought she was feeling better. There was a distinct difference between her version of 'peachy-keen' and theirs.

Her eyes raked objectively up and down her clothed form in the full mirror positioned in front of her. Her fingers fussed with the asymmetrical skirt over her thighs while her eyes remained glued to the lacy camisole over her torso. The skirt was a deep blue that turned almost black depending on how she moved and it flowed while the camisole was a pretty turquoise that popped against the darker blue. The lace of the camisole fringed the scooped neckline and served as the see-through back that spanned a width of about three inches at the base of her spine and from shoulder-to-shoulder at the top. She eyed the cropped, quarter-sleeve, black leather jacket on the stool in the same corner she'd only just considered hiding in before shrugging it on. She left her feet bare, knowing she'd have to stop off in a shoe store for ballet-flats later anyway.

She wasn't showing them _this_ wearing sneakers! Alice would have had a conniption and unfortunately the pixie had rubbed off on her that such a thing mattered to her

"Come on, honey, we wanna see." The pleaded words broke the proverbial camel's back, as it seemed to be doing constantly on this shopping trip, and she opened her changing door. Following her regular routine, she checked to ensure that no other shoppers were in the changing room area, shuffled her feet several times, and then darted out for the guys to take a quick peek before she ducked back into the safety of her hidey-hole.

And, just like all the other times, she was apprehended before she could chicken-out of a real runway show.

This time it was Quil that snapped her hand up to stop her before she could run away. He led her to the three-way mirror where the guys had assembled around earlier and positioned her directly in front of it. When he backed away she dared to meet their glances in the mirrors and wasn't at all surprised by the happy and half-lustful looks she was receiving via reflection.

"Why do you always try to hide?" Paul asked her mirror image with a cocked head. "You're very beautiful, Button. And that leather standing out against your skin is positively sinful." The last of it was spoken on a growl. She saw his tongue dart across his lips to wet them and suppressed a gulp in return.

"You're biased." She argued.

"No, we're not." Embry assured her since Paul looked to be lost in his own world at the moment, so the other wolf had taken over. His head pivoted behind her so that he was looking away and then snatched out his hand. When he reeled it in she discovered that he'd landed himself a highly flustered looking woman wearing the store's badge. "Excuse me, Ma'am, but could you do me a favor and tell me if these look all right on our friend here? She's not sure if the size or color is right."

The woman, Sylvia as her badge dubbed her, stepped forward into the ring of men to survey Bella's choices critically. Sylvia had salt-and-pepper colored hair, a handful of wrinkles around her eyes, deep laugh lines, and half-moon spectacles sitting on the end of her nose. For being older she was dressed immaculately and seemed up to date on her wardrobe. Not a quilted bonnet in sight! A measuring tape hung over her shoulders signaling that she most likely worked in the lingerie department or fittings. She hummed a few times before perking up into a brilliant smile.

"You look lovely, dear. You picked just the right length of skirt for your frame, too. With a flowing skirt like this you don't want it to be too long or it could look matronly or too short because it would turn slightly vulgar or childish. My, my, this color certainly brings out your complexion! Yes, definitely lovely." Sylvia nodded to them once before departing in the direction she had been going previously, choruses of "thank you's" and "much appreciated's" following in her wake.

"_See_, you are beautiful." Embry affirmed smugly.

"She's just trying to make the sale." She argued, darting back into her changing room, but secretly elated that someone random, older or not, thought she was lovely. Fake or not the praise made her spirits lift a tiny bit.

Bella removed the final pieces of clothing she'd picked out from the store and changed back into her normal attire. Well, it was going to be 'normal' for her now, anyway. The sweats, baggy jeans, and oversized tops were obsolete now. For the most part. Unless she was having a crappy day. Or she was just too tired to care.

She surveyed her two mountains of clothes. One was the 'nope, not gonna happen' pile while the other was 'cha-ching, is that burning plastic I smell?' pile. The undesirable pile, the far larger one, was going to be set on the return rack out in the main hall of the changing rooms while the other she had no doubt would be carried by the guys to the register. It miffed her a bit to have them take over like they did with her, but a bigger portion of her liked to be spoiled. In fact, that inner self was all but frolicking in her mind singing '_A Tisket, a Tasket_' for no apparent reason other than to annoy the snot out of the dominant part of her.

In the pile that would end up going to the register consisted of five jeans, two camisoles, three sweaters, one graphic t-shirt proclaiming '_Bite Me; I'm Delicious _and_ Filling_' that had called out to her, two skirts, and one leather jacket. In her head she totaled up the sum with discounts and grinned broadly.

_One-hundred and thirty-six. Give or take a dollar. _She was a bargain shopper. Always had been. Always would be. She didn't shop often, but she'd always been superbly good at percentages. It was sickening really. She couldn't do fractions to save her life, but she'd kick ass every time if she was on _The Price Is Right_. She thought that it might have had something to do with the fact that she and her mother had been through hard times once or twice and she'd had to be careful while grocery shopping so they didn't exceed their budget.

_God I love Burlington Coat Factory. Brand name, great quality, and dirt cheap!_

With a bounce to her step she opened the door to her stall and propped it that way on its hinge so that she could cart all the unwanted pieces to the discard rack. She was always a considerate shopper. She didn't like making more work for the employees than she had to. She would have returned the items back to their shelves specifically if she could have remembered where she'd gotten them from.

"You're done?" The deep voice startled her from her second trip so badly she hiccupped. Quil's hand settled heavily on the nape of her neck to keep her steady.

"Don't scare me like that!" She hissed as she regained her regular breathing pattern.

"Sorry, Princess." His lips met her temple in a quick, apologetic kiss. "Here, let me help."

"Nah-ah! You'll end up grabbing the stuff I want and trying to junk it!" She rushed into the stall and bracketed her arms on either side of the frame making herself into an impenetrable wall. No, not exactly _impenetrable_ in the face of a wolfy male, but sturdy enough! Somewhat. Kind of.

Quil gave her an indulgent smirk. His hands lifted in front of him, palms up, and the fingers flapped three times towards the palm in a 'gimme' gesture.

Bella nodded jerkily before turning to her reject pile. She handed the items over to Quil two or three items at a time and he easily slipped them onto the rack behind him. She was turning to give him the last of the unwanted load when she noticed that he was frowning at her holding the shimmering scarf dress she'd bypassed almost as soon as she'd picked it up.*

"We didn't see this. Why didn't you show us?" She blushed and tried to take the dress from him to put it up and away, but instead found the few remaining items taken from her hands while the dress was set back into them. Quil gave her a stern look.

"Try it on. I want to see it." Command. No budging or room for compromise. Damn.

She tried anyway.

"But Quil…" and she didn't get far.

"Do as I say, Bella." He pushed her back into the stall with a firm hand to her lower back and then shut the door behind her. With an indignant huff she shoved the latch into its receptacle and reluctantly changed into the dress.

Her breath caught in her throat when she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was a pretty mix of blue, black, silver, and the faintest hints of lavender. The print consisted of careful swirls, accents, and floral pieces. The bodice, which dipped down into her cleavage, cinched between her modest bust and then draped ethereally down and around her hips and legs. The dress made her look taller and perfectly slender. The material was something like satin, except thicker so it wasn't see-through. She could easily see herself walking down the beach in this dress. The wind would catch the skirts and flutter behind her like low-set wings. It was perfect in its simplicity and bold in pattern.

She _wanted_ it.

"Bella, Princess, come out so I can see." Quil's voice startled her a little, but not as much as it had before. She didn't need any of them to beg this time around. She wanted…no, she _needed_ to show this dress off.

As soon as she had the door propped all the way open she heard what sounded like thunder rumbling off in the distance. She could tell, though, by the immediate dampening in her panties that it wasn't thunder. Meteorological phenomenon had no effect on her libido whatsoever.

Quil was growling.

Darting a look up into his eyes she had a moment of complete understanding of how helpless little animals must feel after being cornered by a hungry wolf in the woods. This particular wolf looked oh so hungry. She just wasn't sure if he was more in the mood for her bloody cadaver or something far more delightful for the both of them.

_Whoah girl! Slow your roll. Pull the reins. No sha-boom-boom and bang-bang. This is a store for Cripe's sake!_ She pushed her libido away from her eye sockets and that moistened core of sensual wanton, but not before the little tramp got one last peek at the male oozing appeal and stifling heat.

_But just look at him! We could have it over and done with in just a couple of minutes. No one would ever have to know._ She slammed the door on that thought, as well as the dreamy-eyed female that resided in her mind, and stomped down hard on the building fires in the pits of her stomach.

"Qu-quil," she stuttered shamelessly as he trudged directly up to her. His scent enveloped her and made her groan. Rosemary, thyme, and musk. _Oh God!_ She had to throw herself against the door she'd locked her libido behind to keep her from running on a rampage. The thing was out for a little bit more than hot, male flesh.

The backs of the man's fingers caressed the sides of her breasts where the fabric met the buttery soft skin of her underarms. A whimper broke free when the pressure increased a little and dropped to below the bust. His thumb ghosted over her nipple through the fabric and she lurched backwards into the wall causing it to shake.

"What's going on here?" Another gravelly voice boomed from behind the intimidating Native. Bella's eyes were half-lidded when the others, _all of them_, clustered around her in the tight confines of the changing area. The room sounded like it had been thrown into a barrel and positioned directly under Niagara Falls when the others caught a glance at her.

"You're getting it." Quil just barely managed to articulate his words enough to be comprehensible. She found herself nodding doggedly, still trying to hold back her inner self. The door was cracking and that she-devil was hissing like a cobra. She was almost afraid to see what rabid creature she'd turned into when she had to open the door again.

_My God! How the Hell did I manage to seduce Sam without unleashing this monster?_ She wondered deliriously.

"Go change, Bella." Quil demanded with unconcealed desire. He about-faced and nudged the others out of the cramped space. The heady scent of their arousals, as she was certain that was what it was that was making her so delirious, dissipated enough for her to get her feet moving again. She changed back into her previous attire with shaking limbs, but by the time she was back in her regular wardrobe she could lift her hand without seeing it trembling like a leaf in high-winds.

_I can't survive much more of this._ She thought despairingly. _I can't keep saying 'no' and live through it. I can't! It's going to kill me._

_Not if I do first_. The inner her barked from behind the nearly buckled door. She'd calmed down enough to stop pounding on it, but not enough to be peaceable.

_I really need to stop thinking of myself as having another personality. It's just not healthy._ That joking thought cheered her up a bit and fueled her enough to gather several pieces of clothing into her hands and exit the changing stall.

They were all standing tensely outside the room, eyes hard and unrelenting as they looked her over. Jake was the first to shake his head clear, stomp forward, and snatch her load from her hands. His eyes jerked behind her towards her stall.

"You have more?" The words were huskier and gruffer than he had intended, she knew. Their impact on her already uptight libido was tremendous, but she kept the thing bound as tightly as she could.

"Yeah. On the chair." Seth and Embry readily moved into the stall she had been using to grab the rest of her 'keep' pile. Paul set his hand on her lower back and stared down at her covetously.

"Is that everything, Bella? Do you want anything else from this store?" At her shaking head he nodded and led her towards the registers at the front of the store.

There was only a single other person ahead of them in line when they arrived so Bella took the opportunity to pull her bank card and license out of her button-back pocket. It was the one attached to the Bank of America branch back in Phoenix that she shared with her mother. She usually kept a stock of three-hundred dollars for emergencies in it and instead of sending her money, if that urge came upon her, Renee would often just top-up their account so she could spend the money that way. She knew that the account still held an extra two-hundred from when she'd first moved to Forks and her mom had wanted her to buy a new wardrobe then.

_Oh well. Better late than never_.

When the next register opened Jake, Embry, and Seth brought her clothes forward, set them onto the counter, and then moved off to the entrance to give the teller room to breathe. The poor man, closer to being a boy than a man, looked about ready to piss himself even when only Paul remained by her side.

"Uh-ah-uhm," Bobby, the teller, stumbled out shakily. His hands shook momentarily before he was able to make them steady once more. "D-did you find everything all right, Miss?"

"Sure thing!" She replied cheerily. Paul's fingers tightened over her side as he shifted his stance into something a bit more proprietary.

"Would you like the hangers for the jeans?" Bobby asked with almost no wobble in his voice. A prideful accomplishment if you asked her.

"No thank you."

Bobby moved with efficiency to remove the theft-clips from the jeans and jacket and then rang everything through the machine by item type. Bella watched the total a bit gleefully. Even with the added dress the total only came out to one-hundred forty-nine dollars and sixty-two cents.

_Damn I'm good_.

"Cash, credit, or check?"

"Credit, please." She ran her card through the machine in front of the register when the kid gestured towards it. It only took a handful of seconds for the receipt to spit out at them. She signed the cashier's slip as instructed and beamed widely at the boy when he gave her the rest of the receipt. He started to smile back, but turned ghostly pale in the next second and quickly began to stuff her purchases into two large shopping bags.

She tossed a glare at Paul, who was conveniently sneering at the poor kid, before elbowing him in the gut. He didn't even flinch. His gaze, however, did fall down onto her. She struggled to hold onto her minor irritation when his eyes shifted monumentally from jealousy and dislike to content and adoring.

"Be. Nice." She hissed, putting emphasis on each word.

Paul gave her a not-so-innocent smile, kissed her temple, and gestured for her to 'run along' when the bags were placed on the counter. Her snagged them up with a single hand and led her away from Bobby with a firm touch.

"Have a nice day, Miss."

"You too!" She called back, all but ignoring the male grumbling under his breath beside her.

"Thanks, guys. I really needed some new clothes." She hugged them all in gratitude before she felt herself being tucked safely into Sam's side.

"It was no problem, Bella. We'd do a lot more for you if only you'd ask."

"But I won't." She taunted with a delighted, haughty smile.

"You will." Not wanting to burst his bubble, or her own if it came back to bite her in the butt later, she just shook her head and gestured at the stores flowing out around them.

"Where are we going now?"

"Bed, Bath, and Beyond." Sam turned her by the waist so that she was moving to the left down the wide-spaced aisles. The other shoppers at the Supermall in Seattle were giving them a fairly wide berth, which was fine by her. Jealousy bubbled like a syrupy goop in her stomach every time a woman would look at her men as if they were something good to eat. They didn't have her stamp on them, but they were still hers in her own mind, dang it!

She just wasn't going to let them know about the possessive minx hiding in her body somewhere near the region of her heart that had been getting more and more vocal in the past weeks.

Bella eagerly pointed out pieces that she thought would look nice in the cabin and work universally. A lot of the rooms could work with earthy tones or neutrals. The towels for every bathroom, the laundry, and the ones for the kitchen were a golden tan. They made the count and had an order for immediate shipping to the cabin that consisted of curtains, towels, and extra bedding. Another order was made to be sent to Paul's house for storage and use until the cabin was up and running. That one had a chef's dream worth of kitchen tools. Pots, pans, knives, utensils, organizers, beaters, glasses, plates, bowls, and everything else on top of that. Jared, Paul, Sam, and Embry took a Panini maker, food processor, blender, toaster, waffle iron, a crockpot, coffee maker, mixer, and can opener, along with her bags of clothes, out to the cars parked in the lot. The small appliances blended in with the stainless steel larger appliances they'd already picked up that morning before showing up at the mall.

It gave her sticker-shock or at least some form of it to see them just swiping a card or handing out a whole wad of cash for their purchases. They didn't even bat an eye. She could have sworn she saw Jacob using a black card at one point when they purchased the larger appliances from Lowes, but she couldn't have been certain.

Their grand total at Bed, Bath, and Beyond just about gave her a twitch. She hadn't seen numbers go that high in a _long_ time.

While the four took the purchased items out to the vehicles to keep them from having to cart them around for the rest of the day she and the remaining three went into Famous Footwears for a couple pairs of shoes. She went to the Clearance section first before searching the rest of the store. She ended up finding a pair of plain black, ribbon ballet flats and a pair of tan and brown Pumas for running around in. Seth bought himself a new set of Nikes since his older pair was near the point of disintegrating.

"You hungry, Button?" Paul asked as the four came back from the vehicles to where they'd made her sit down on an aisle bench. Apparently she'd exerted herself enough for their liking.

_Pft_.

Paul's hand settled over her stomach lightly. She felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks when it grumbled and roared like some poorly contained monster in response. They all chuckled at her. Paul pulled her to her feet by her waist since his hand was already there.

"Let's go feed the beast." He chuckled and led her along.

They ended up at the other side of the mall where the food court seemed to be singing with delicious smells. One in particular, though, had her hustling out of her wolf's arms for the food stall that was all but screaming her name. Her feet skidded a little once she found the line she needed to be in.

"Bella, you don't need Cinnabon for lunch." Seth chided lightly when he glanced up at the sign to her chosen eatery. His face portrayed amusement more than anything. "You need something healthier and more filling."

"Not a chance, doggie. I haven't had a cinnamon-roll in over a year and I'm about to get my fix. Step in my way and you'll end up getting trampled." She meant it, too. It should have been public knowledge to every male alive that they should back away from a female ravenous for sweets. Especially chocolate. Wars had been started for less.

Seth sighed. "Will you agree to just get a small one and we'll get you a sandwich at the very least to eat before that?" She knew that he didn't really want to open negotiations. He wanted to just order her and have her concede to his wishes. He also knew he wouldn't get that from her and was making an effort at democracy, which is why she found herself moving her head up and down.

"Of course."

"Thank you." He brushed his fingers across her cheek before looking back to the others. They did their silent communication thing. There were times that Bella found it eerie.

They ended up shoving a few tables together and collecting various foods from the other stalls around the food court. The guys ended up getting her a nice piece of grilled fish and a salad while they gorged on wings, burgers, hotdogs, pizza, and other infamous junk-foods around the continental US. She only managed to eat half of her cinnamon-roll after the fish and salad, which was a bit of a downer.

"You wanna watch a movie, Sweetheart?" Jared enquired as they wandered the mall a little while later. At her hesitant nod they led her out of the mall through one of the corner exits. Sure enough, right across the street sat a Regal Theaters.

"Anything look good to you, Bella?" Jake asked as his own eyes scanned over the show-times listed over the ticket counter. Her lips pursed.

She all but flinched at '_Beverly Hills Chihuahua_' and shrugged off '_Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist_'. She also wouldn't make them suffer through one of the last showings of '_Nights in Rodanthe_'. She was a woman, not a sadist. The only two that held any appeal at all to her were '_Body of Lies_' with Leonardo DiCaprio…hubba-hubba, she still drooled from his performance in '_Titanic_'…or the horror film '_Quarantine_' that Mike, Tyler, Eric, and Ben were all jazzed up to see.

"I'm okay with either '_Quarantine_' or '_Body of Lies_'. I'd prefer to avoid talking rat-dogs, though, so please pass that one up for me." She responded with an absent flick of her wrist.

"You don't mind watching a gory horror film, Button?" She could hear the smirk in Paul's voice. It brought one to her own lips. "That's m'girl."

"Most of them are just comical now. The old horror flicks were the good ones. Like '_House on Haunted Hill_' or the original '_Texas Chainsaw Massacre_'. Classics."

"Come on, then, big girl. We'll go watch '_Quarantine_'. Feel free to hide in my shoulder if you have to." Seth's eyebrows did a funny little dance on his brow and made her giggle.

In their appointed theater she was herded up the steps towards the upper-middle section of the rows of seats. They were fairly early for the movie and only a few other people sat in the wings. Paul and Seth bracketed her on either side while two others, Jared and Jacob, sat directly in front of her and the other three behind her. The end result was being trapped in a tight circle of shapeshifter male. Paul and Seth both pushed the hinged armrests up and away so that they could maneuver her into a position that she was forced to lean into Paul's heated side with her feet curled up and plopped in Seth's lap. It was surprisingly comfortable for being such an awkward angle.

"Is there any movie you're actually scared of, Bella?" Paul asked of her as one of his arms cradled her around the waist and the other rubbed up and down over her left arm. Her fingers locked around his hand when his strayed a little farther than her wrist. She skimmed her nails across his palm-lines when he'd uncurled his fingers for her access.

"Three of them, actually." Though the two in front of her weren't looking at her and she couldn't see the three behind she knew that she had their attention. Whispering in a theater was the same as speaking loudly elsewhere and no matter what she said they always tuned in to what she had to say. It didn't matter if it was important or not. "'_They_', '_Darkness_', and '_Darkness Falls_'. I hate them all."

"Why?" Her silver wolf urged, his hand steady under hers. She kept staring at his fingertips.

"Because in those movies things come out at night…in the dark. In the dark you're alone and can't see anything and these _things_ take advantage of that. In the dark you can't defend yourself. You're not home anymore where things are comfortable. You're not…safe." She moved uneasily for only an instant before hands fell heavily onto her calves, hip, and left hand.

"Are you afraid of the dark, Bella?" Seth pushed softly, his hands caressing her lower legs. She tried to shrug noncommittally, but only succeeded in making it look like the wince it was.

"It's no big deal. It's not like I can't go out at night or have to sleep with a night-light or anything. I just don't like the dark."

She admitted it to herself that it was more than that. She kept a flashlight in her truck and another in the drawer of her bedside table for a reason beyond trying not to trip over herself when the lights went out. She _was_ afraid of the dark. In the dark you were blind and even if there was someone right next to you you wouldn't know it. You were alone. In the dark you could scream and no one could ever find you. You got lost…got scared…got hurt.

All alone.

"Shh, it's okay." Warm, firm lips brushed across her brow and cheek several times while the hands at her legs massaged gently. She hadn't noticed until that point that she'd started to shake and tears had begun to pool in her eyes. "It's okay. You're okay. We're here."

Her head fell into Paul's right pectoral heavily. She bit her lip to hold back a choking sob.

_I don't need this right now_.

"I'm fine." Her voice wavered a little, so she gave her throat a good clearing to put it back to rights. "I'm fine. How about we talk about something else, okay? Please." She knew that she was begging, but at that point she just wanted to get around discussing this topic. Dignity could take a back-seat until she'd regained her composure.

"Of course, Bella." The bigger male squeezed her slightly with his right arm before placing a final kiss to her brow and leaving her to watch the 'Fun Facts' and Trivia questions paying across the screen in silence. For the most part, anyway. Seth kept up a light banter that cheered her up considerably until the theater filled and the actual previews began to roll.

She hummed contentedly as the movie began and pushed back further into Paul's secure warmth.

* * *

><p>Later that night, close to sunset, Sam carried a napping Bella up the front steps of the Swan home feeling lighter than he had in years. Charlie opened the door for him to get his mate through without having to disturb her.<p>

"Busy day?" The elder man queried with an arched brow, a sedate smile on his face as he glanced down at his daughter.

"For her." He responded softly. He took the fragile beauty into the living room and sat her down on the couch. Her eyes opened blearily to make eye contact with him. The most adorable smile he'd ever seen lit up her face.

"Hi, Sam."

"Hello, Bella. Let's get your coat off, okay?"

"M'kay." He moved the fur coat from her arms slowly and cautiously. She was just so breakable. He didn't want to hurt her in any way, but it would be so easy. So very easy to brush her petal-soft skin with his fingers and bruise it.

Embry came in for only a couple of minutes to bring Bella's bags up to her bedroom, come back down, and gave Bella a light hug before leaving the house. Sam, too, hugged Bella before standing, only he ended up kissing her forehead as well. He couldn't control himself. Charlie was standing directly behind him, watching everything, but he didn't care about anything beyond his female at that moment.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay, Bella?" He knocked her chin up with a finger when her head drooped a little. Her sleepy grin was infectious.

"M'kay. Thanks for everything today, Sam. Really."

"We had fun, too, Angel. Goodnight."

"'Night, Sammy."

When he left the house, Embry was still sitting in the driveway. He was behind the wheel of Sam's Expedition. He gave the other male the thumbs up to signal that it was all right to leave. While Sam would be on watch over their mate for the next several hours they needed to keep up the appearance to Charlie that they were normal. Having Embry wait to leave until Sam exited the house would keep him from thinking that anything strange was going on. It wouldn't make much sense for him to walk home to any Normal not in the loop.

As soon as he hit the tree-line he shifted over, cringing at the intense pain, but forgetting about it in the next instant. Jared's and Quil's minds melded with his, signaling that they had assumed their routine patrol in La Push.

Sam chuffed a little, shook out his fur, and then hunkered down in a lounging position with his muzzle over his paws within view of Bella's bedroom window. He'd be ready for later that night when she retired to her room. While he couldn't be seen in the woods, he had no problem keeping sight of the house.

His ears perked forward when he heard conversation start up in the house before him.

"Did you have a nice trip, Bells?" His mate's father prodded kindly. He assumed the sound of shifting fabric and a fairly large whoosh of air meant that Bella had lay down on the couch and pulled the quilt stationed on the backrest over herself.

"Mmhmm. It was nice. I got new clothes and a really pretty dress."

"A dress?" The man sounded flabbergasted. The obvious shock brought a distinctly animal-like smile to his canine lips. "Bella, honey, you don't wear dresses."

"I didn't. I do now. They're pretty." She was silent for a moment and he heard her shift again. "Dad, do you like the guys?"

Jared and Quil both keyed into that question like a bee zones in on a flower that needs to be pollinated. Sam, too, felt his breathing quiet considerably as if that would improve his ability to hear the answer more clearly.

"I do. They're good boys." A pause. He was tentative with his next words. "I'm just worried for you, Bella. You're so young. They are, too. You got serious with Edward and you got hurt. I don't want you making the same mistake twice."

Bella sighed deeply. She shifted again, this time the sound of patting could be heard afterwards. Charlie's footsteps beat closer to where his mate was before his weight caused the couch to shift and dip. She'd asked him to sit with her, then.

"Daddy," she began, her voice gentler than he'd ever heard it, "I'm always going to be your daughter. You know that and I know that. It's never going to change. Isn't that what you told Sam earlier?

"I know you want what's best for me. You don't want me to get hurt. I don't either. I don't want to have my heart ripped out, but I have to take the risk of it happening otherwise I'll just end up being alone. I don't want to be alone, Dad. Every time I make a new friend, talk to someone new, or grow closer to someone I already know, I'm giving up a piece of myself to know them. The more I get to know someone, the more I'm giving to them, but if I don't give them anything then how can I expect anything in return?

"Gamma told me once that to love someone means you're willing to give up everything to be with them, but knowing that they'd never ask you to. There are different kinds of love, dad. Familial, romantic, platonic, friendship…but they all come with the same price. I have to trust myself to the people I love and hope that they won't hurt me in return. That's all I can do. And yeah, I know at some point someone'll stomp on my heart again, but I'm going to take the risk because if it works out it's worth it in the end.

"So please, Dad, give them half a chance. Right now all I want is friendship. It's all I can handle right now. Can you give them a chance, Dad?"

The three of them waited with baited breath for their mate's father to speak. After several minutes a long-suffering sigh eased out of the man's mouth.

"You took after her, you know. You're just like your grandmother." The couch shifted and fabric met fabric. They were hugging. "I love you, Bella, and I trust you. I'll give them their chance. For you."

"Thank you, Daddy." His heart clenched a little when he heard her hiccup on a cry. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too, Bells. So much."

Sam remained hidden in the trees long after the two had retired for the night, still wide-awake and alert to every motion of his slumbering female. His heart thrummed in time with hers. For every breath she took he took one of his own.

Looking up to her bedroom window he made a solemn promise to never be a cause for his precious Angel to lose her faith in him.

He'd make sure she'd never have to be alone ever again.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hey hey! I'm hoping that I'll hit the 1,000 review mark with this chapter. I hope this chapter finds you all well, and there is a new picture added of the dress to the link for 'The Pack Imperative' photo album on my profile.

Also, I want it made abundantly clear that until all the wolves admit their love for and to Bella, there isn't going to be a 'full-on' sex scene. There will be a lot of the 'sexy' stuff, but no out-right, down-and-dirty loving until everyone has reached that crescendo. This may upset some of you out there, but if you like this story enough I believe you'll stick around. This story is about more than just the intimate scenes, although those are extremely nice, too (all us readers enjoy those).

…And, I want it to be said now that if someone else decides to write a story about the pack imprinting on Bella, it's not my call to tell you to or not to do it. All I ask is that if anyone does that they should come up with their own spins and plot-line. If you don't then it's basically stealing my story (something I won't abide by). And if anyone happens to read another story where an author's story (be it a one-shot or longer) is using my story specifically or it sounds eerily close to it, I would appreciate a PM about it. I'd even accept anonymous reviews/tips/hints on something like that. There's a distinct difference between plagiarism and commonality…commonality is fine, but plagiarism is wrong. **_PLEASE_** feel free to tell me if you think something **_I'M_ **writing sounds a lot like anything else you've read, too, and I'll make sure to check it out and makes notes on how to keep anything from sounding copied or from 'stealing'.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	16. Chapter 16: Happenings in Port Angeles

**Chapter Sixteen: Happenings in Port Angeles**

Bella pulled her truck up into an open parking space of the lot behind the Study Center. Susanna Brighton had told her when she'd first called and set up her study-schedule that she'd have to retrieve a parking pass from one of the employees at the front desk. The pass would enable her to park in this particular lot without fear of her truck being ticketed, or worse yet, towed.

She yawned widely as she hopped down from the cab of her red-rusted beast. Her brows puckered downwards in a severe frown. She was always so damnably tired all the time now! She usually ended up taking at least one nap every day about an hour long. It had been that way ever since she'd gotten sick. She suspected that it had something to do with the physical appearance of her seven shifter men, but couldn't reason how that could possibly be it. It made no logical sense, but of course shapeshifters didn't fit into the logical world.

…Speaking of…

She tugged her phone out of her pocket, scrolled down until she found Jacob's name, and dialed. She had barely put the phone to her ear and heard it ring through twice before the line was picked up.

"Bella, honey, are you okay? Did you make it there all right?" The poorly concealed anxiety of the male had her fighting back the giggles.

"I'm fine, Jake. You worry too much." She reached up into the cab to flick the lock down, grabbed her backpack, and then slammed the door shut. "You made me promise to call you when I got here and I'm here. Safe and sound. Not even a hangnail."

"Don't sass me, little one." Her grin grew wider at the growl in his voice. It was so much fun toying with them, although she really should consider getting a less dangerous hobby…like poking a grizzly bear with a sharp stick.

"I'm not sassing you, big boy." She retorted flippantly. "I'm taunting. There's a difference."

"You're aiming to get yourself paddled." She was glad he couldn't see her roll her eyes. That would have definitely gotten a negative reaction out of him. "Be good, Bella. You remember the other half of our deal, correct?"

"Yes, Sir, my Master, General and Chief, Grand Pulbah, Oh Great One, you wonder–" Jake's thunderous laughter cut off her sarcastic exaltations. She, too, found herself laughing, though much softer than he was. "I know, Jake, I know. Call you when I get ready to leave Port Angeles and when I get home again. I promised. I have to go now, Jake."

"All right, honey. _Please_ call any of us if you need _anything_."

"I will. Talk to you later, Jake."

"Bye, hun."

"Bye bye." She flicked her phone shut and turned it off in the process. She shoved the phone into the back pocket of her jeans distractedly as she looked around.

It had been a long time since she'd been to Port Angeles. She would never forget the last time, either. She'd been nearly jumped, could have been raped, and been saved by her un-dead knight in a silver foreign car. The only real difference between now and then was that she was out in broad daylight, in a public parking lot.

She walked up the side of the building until she'd circled around the front. A wooden sign hung invitingly above the doorway. It was a very pale yellow with mid-to-deep blue etching proclaiming '_Brighton's Center for Education of Port Angeles_'. The front of the Center showed only a set of carefully screened windows so that no one could be spied on from the outside. It provided privacy and looked nice with the pale-blue wash of the siding.

The glass door tinkled when she opened it. A receptionist immediately looked her way and smiled brightly.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Isabella Swan. I've signed up for classes here and needed to get my parking pass and get to my first appointment." Her gaze flicked to the clock on the wall. It was ten-til'-four. She still had ten minutes.

"Of course. Wait just a second, please, while I pull up your data." The woman, somewhere in her mid-thirties judging by her face alone, turned back to the state-of-the-art computer behind the high desk. Her nails tapped at the keys efficiently for a couple of minutes before she turned her attention back to her. "Can I see identification, please?" Bella nodded and gave over her license. Once she was verified the woman beamed again. "Thank you, Miss Swan. Your vehicle will be safe for today, but before you leave we will be sure to give you your parking pass, which you may hang on your rear-view mirror. You can walk through the doors behind me and take a seat wherever you feel most comfortable. Bianca, your tutor, will meet you once we go over your info one last time."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Hillary, please. It was nice to meet you, Miss Swan."

"Call me Bella. Thank you, Hillary." Bella gave the woman a little wave before making her way into the back of the building through a set of pale, mass-marketed wooden doors.

On the other side of the doorway lay about a dozen tables, only four of them in use, and many movable dry-erase boards and overflowing bookshelves. She moved almost-gracefully, at least for her, to an empty table and sat down. She swung her bag onto the floor beside her feet and shrugged her coat off to set it across the back of another chair. The room was pleasantly warm, so her peasant-blouse would be just fine at keeping her warm.

She pulled a spare notebook she'd gotten just for the Study Center out of her bag along with a pencil and the notes she'd taken in school. She grimaced at the scratchy, uncoordinated, purely destructive-looking entries. She'd been told to bring her regular notebook to ascertain if there was any way to correct some of her problem-areas by picking at her current methods. She had no doubt that a _lot_ could be done to improve her note-taking abilities within mathematics…especially if they could teach her what any of the hullabaloo she'd already recorded meant.

As she waited her mind drifted back to Monday and earlier in this day. School hadn't been too trying. Lauren had laid low in their group, most likely trying to recover and find another way to sink it to her when it would be least expected. The previous day's lunch had consisted of Larissa, the newest addition to their posse, working in tandem with Angela to get her to agree to go to the Halloween Dance, which was only a little over two weeks away. It had been a fight until the very end, but eventually Bella had given in and agreed to go. She'd let herself get lost in thought then, too, and that was how she'd found herself submitting to her two girl-friends.

Her mind had replayed instantly to the last dance she'd gone to…with Edward. She couldn't dance, she knew that, but as loath as she was to admit it she had had fun. Forks was a small school, but the events that were held were fairly well chosen and made for their enjoyment unlike a lot of schools she'd attended while she and her mother had been moving from place to place. She'd gone to enough dances, parties, and carnivals to last a millennium, but in Forks she could relax more and enjoy herself like she hadn't been able to with her mother.

She'd felt a sickening pang of guilt for thinking like that. She felt like she was betraying her mother. She loved the woman, she really did…but sometimes she wished she could go back in time and be a kid like she never got to be. She'd had to grow up so much quicker than all the others kids she'd known. She had to do the grocery shopping, manage the bills, and do every other 'adult' thing that would normally lie on her mother's shoulders. Parties weren't on her agenda because she moved too much with her flighty mother and she had to take care of the older woman when things fell through.

She thought she deserved a chance at what little was left of her childhood before being an adult full-time was unavoidable.

And so she'd agreed.

She'd also been corralled into aiding Tyler in passing an in-depth English project. He had to write a five-page essay, make a Power Point, and recite a completed work of one of the five published authors his entire assignment would revolve around. Seeing as she was such a whiz in Literature she'd been hassled into helping him memorize lines.

Now she had company in the library every morning for the hour she usually gave herself for extra studying.

What had truly driven her to the point of madness was returning to work at the Outfitters. She hadn't truly comprehended how heavy the impact of not working and being showered with attention and things would be. Going back to work with Mike and his folks coupled with dealing with disgruntled customers made her head pound. Five hours…it had only been five hours and she wanted to quit. No, that wasn't quite right. She'd wanted to quit before the first hour mark had rolled by.

_I wanted to rip that smock off, set a fire in one of the display fire pits, and then chuck the ugly thing right into it!_

As selfish as it was she wanted to run back to La Push and give in to the guys' generous offer, whether it was valid or not, to pay for everything for her. They'd certainly offered to do so enough with her over the course of the past few weeks. She wouldn't have to force herself to walk through the door of the store, put on her smock, and stand behind the counter four days a week for minimum wage and little respect. She wouldn't have to worry about bills anymore. She could just focus on her remaining year in school and have a little bit of fun!

Sometimes she wished that she could be less proud and a bit more self-centered.

She was plucked from her inattention by a stalky older woman coming to stand in front of her table. She had slightly curled, dark black hair and pale mocha skin derivative of India. Her almond shaped eyes were tinted nearly as darkly as her hair. She was wearing an emerald green, button-down blouse and grey slacks. She might have been somewhere in her late forties or early fifties judging by the slight wrinkling around her eyes and mouth.

"Hello." The woman greeted in a husky-ish voice. "You're Isabella, right?"

"Just Bella, ma'am." Bella stood to shake the woman's offered hand.

"My name's Bianca Hansen. I'm going to be your tutor."

"Thank you for helping me. I know it's your job, but if you can even help me remotely I'll never be able to thank you enough." The woman chuckled.

"It's not just a job to me, Bella. I've always wanted to be a teacher and working here I feel more fulfilled because I can help the kids that truly need the extra push." She waved towards where she'd been sitting previously. "Take a seat. Let's get started."

With a sigh Bella hunkered down in her seat and tilted her retched notebook towards her tutor so that she could assess her and figure out what needed to be done.

* * *

><p>"It can't be that easy!" Bella glared at the two pieces of paper in front of her as if they were the Devil reincarnated. The first one had been her attempt to complete a relatively short, ten-question quiz involving fractions. The plentiful red marks signaled that it was woefully below standard. The second one was the exact same quiz she'd completed only minutes before. There was only one mark on the paper and it was a green check at the top of the sheet.<p>

Bianca had first flipped through her school notebook for a few minutes, mostly silent and making no comments on it. She'd then asked Bella to tell her what particularly she needed help with. The answer had been simple...everything.

After the initial consultation she'd been told to complete the ten-question quiz as best she could. When she was done Bianca had taken it from her, looked it over without comment or making a mark on it, and then set it off to the side of the table. She'd risen and returned moments later with a large pad of white paper, two felt markers, and a tablet. For the next hour they'd gone through several techniques she had never been taught in school on how to solve fractional equations. When she'd had questions she'd asked and been answered immediately and in great detail. The notes she took in her new notebook were still a bit scratchy, but considerably more legible and understandable than her school one. What surprised her more was that she understood them!

Bianca had beamed at the end of that hour and handed her a replica of the quiz she'd been given at the beginning of their session. By the time she'd finished the quiz using the same techniques and methods Bianca had just shown her Bella had been shocked to find that she'd completed the quiz in a third of the time it had taken her to do it the first time. While she'd been doing the quiz Bianca had been correcting her first one.

"You're a smart girl, Bella. You just need to learn some things in a different way than other people." She looked up at the woman with a tearful smile building on her face. She couldn't believe she'd just passed a quiz. No, she hadn't just passed…she'd aced it! She hadn't done that on a math test since the problems had switched from simple addition to long division!

"You just – you can – I can't believe – " Bella choked on an ecstatic laugh and quickly pulled the darker skinned woman into a full-frontal hug. The poor woman gasped in shock, but eventually hugged her back with a little bit of a pat to her back. "I haven't been able to do that on a math test since I was little. Oh my God!"

Bianca's laugh was airy. "I guarantee that you'll be able to do it a lot more in the future. Some of the stuff we'll be going over will be harder, but once you get basic methodologies out of the way the rest of it spreads like melted butter."

"Why haven't any of my teachers tried this stuff before?" Bella couldn't keep the hint of bitterness out of her tone.

"When a group as a whole understands concepts the individual tends to be looked over. I think that's what happened to you. They assumed that the same method would work for everyone, which it obviously does not." She flipped her school notebook shut. "You come back here every Tuesday and Thursday for the next eight weeks and I guarantee that you'll see a huge difference in your math class and outside of it. After eight weeks you can decide if you'd like to continue coming here for added help or an occasional tutoring session or you can leave the program. The option to return is always open, though."

"I'll be back." Bella promised, her eyes still wide and shining on her quizzes. That green check mark might as well have been a winning lottery ticket for all the wonder she showed it.

"I'll be happy to see you here, then. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go talk to Hillary, have your assessment written up, and then I'll be back here to send you off. You'll have to see her before you leave for your pass and payment."

"Sure thing. No problem." She stood when the other woman did. "Thank you again, Bianca. Really."

"No need to thank me, Bella. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Bella sat giddily in her seat after Bianca left and bobbed her head to a nonexistent beat as she scanned through the new notes she'd taken on solving fractions. It made her insanely smug to know that they weren't all simple fractions, either. Some of them included variables!

_I can't wait to tell the guys about this!_

"Uhm, excuse me?" Her head jerked upwards at the softly-spoken voice. There was hint of an accent in it…maybe Cajun? "Can I sit here for a couple of minutes? I don't wanna sit alone and I'm s'pose to wait for a little while before I can make my monthly payment."

"Go ahead."

Bella's eyes travelled over the other girl's body quickly before she sat down. She was shorter than her by several inches and had pale, freckled skin. Her hair was a rusty red color and pulled back into a pony-tail that resembled something closer to a puff ball because of the tight curls in her hair. They looked like nylon springs. Her eyes were a sharp blue color closer to stormy grey and her lips were full and plump. She was wearing a white turtleneck and black jean pants that hugged her curvy frame. To Bella she looked like a red-headed Olivia Newton-John, the young woman who played Sandy from '_Grease'_.

"Thanks."

"Sure sure." She held out her hand. "I'm Isabella Swan. Everyone calls me Bella, though."

"Evangeline Dwyer. Call me Evy." Evy and she shook hands as if they were about to conduct a business meeting. Bella was pleased by the solidarity in the other girl's grip. "Watcha in here for?"

"Math. I can't do much besides give you your total within ten cents at a store before you even hit the register. After that I'm hopeless." Evy grinned broadly.

"Did you ever watch that show '_Shop 'Til You Drop_'? I loved that show, but I used to be so bad at it." She giggled a little, shifting back in her chair, and bobbed her head at the red-head.

"I sure did. That and '_Supermarket Sweep_'. I was invincible when it came to those shows. Well, price-wise. I wouldn't have stood a chance at the physical parts like running around the set. I would have busted my face right open."

"A klutz, huh?"

"Remember danger-prone Daphne from '_Scooby-Doo_'? Yeah, I'm the real-life version." She swung her hand a little outwards to indicate Evy's sedate form. "What about you? How 'come you're here?"

"I've been homeschooled for the past several years, but Science was kicking my butt. I needed the extra help and when we moved out here a few months ago I found this Center. I just walked in and here I am. I've been coming here since August. I still need help in some things, but now that I have this place I'm doing a lot better than I was at home."

"This is my first day." Bella informed her bashfully.

"I wasn't sure, but I thought it might be. I come here three days a week and I'd never seen you before. How do you like it?" Genuine curiosity dripped from the girl's mouth. Bella beamed. She felt instant companionship with this girl. She was just so warm in personality she wouldn't be able to believe anyone if they said that they didn't like the freckled girl.

"It's very nice. I live a ways out from here, but a teacher recommended this place to me since I was struggling in his class. I'm really happy I came." She looked around again briefly, just then noticing that she and Evy seemed to be the only ones left.

"The Center closes at six every weekday and at eight on Saturdays."

"Oh, okay." She blushed and turned her head down with a laugh when her stomach rumbled quite loudly. Evy rocked forward with infectious giggles. "I probably should have eaten a little more at lunch today than a salad and some grapefruit."

"Pro'ly." Evy slurred giddily. When Bella turned her attention back to the girl she saw her nibbling on her inner cheek. "Would you want to go out to a diner I like here? I know we just met and everything, but I'm hungry, too, and I _know_ the food there's better than McDonalds. It's also fairly cheap, which is good on my wallet."

It was her turn to bite at her lip as she consciously reached into her pocket for her cellphone. She'd have to call her dad and at least one of the guys, but she was hungry enough to forego going home for at least half an hour to eat.

"I have to call home, but yeah, that sounds nice."

"Great!"

Bella and Evy only got to chat for a little while more before Bianca returned to the room to escort them to the front. Her tutor and Evy seemed to know each other well if their easy banter was anything to go by.

She was instructed by Hillary to take her pass and set it somewhere in easy access of her truck so that she could put it up whenever she needed and then paid out her due while Evy waited a respectful distance away. Bella appreciated that. She really had just met the girl and no matter how easy she felt around her, much as she had with Issa, she didn't want the red-head eavesdropping on her billing info and being aware of her bank card number. She paid Evy the same respect when she paid her own dues.

"Just give me a minute to make a few calls, okay?" Bella requested as they left the Center, waving to Bianca, and made their way towards her truck. Evy apparently walked a lot and rarely bothered with a car since she lived just a couple of blocks away from the Center and another four from the diner.

"That's all right." She decided to ignore the surprise on Evy's face as she looked between the white fur coat she was wearing and her dilapidated truck. The two didn't exactly go together well.

_I think her jaw's unhinging a little._

She called her father first. She got the voicemail at home.

"Hey Dad. I'm going to be out a little later tonight. I was hungry and decided to stop off at a diner here in Port Angeles with someone I met at the Center. I'll have my phone on me and it'll be on." She didn't add that she also had the pepper spray he'd given her handy. If, by some slim chance, Evangeline turned out to be a psycho she knew how to stun her enough to get the heck away. "Love you. I'll see you somewhere around eight." That gave her a time-limit of about an hour to eat and then the hour or so it took her to drive back to Forks.

The next call was a bit trickier.

_Understatement of the century!_

Her eyes scanned through her contacts until she hit the one she desired and suspected she could get what she wanted from easier...someone who'd create the least fuss and wouldn't send out a recovery team for her. He answered on the second ring.

"Bella? Baby? Are you okay, little one? Do you need me to come get you?" Seth's gentle, yet rumbling deep voice had her guts churning pleasantly. Butterflies had nothing on what was going on in her abdomen at that moment.

"I'm fine, Seth. Promise. I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't be home as soon as I had thought." She pushed through the panic she could practically feel welling up in him from over the phone. "Nothing happened. Nothing's wrong. I was just hungry and was going to stop off somewhere to get something to eat."

"Bella…" Whoops! There was that warning growl they were all famous for. Seth may have been the softest of the pack, but there was no denying that he was his own wolf. His Alpha, the dominant, was leashed a little tighter than the others' Alphas were and thus he could be the 'baby' of the group. He couldn't hold the reins forever, though.

"I'm okay, Seth. I'm talking to you. I have my phone and it's fully charged. I'm _safe_, honey. If I need anything at all I'll call you." She notched the pout up in her voice. She could play the vulnerable, pathetic card well. She'd pull every slick move she knew without remorse if it got her what she wanted. Brat move, but she was determined to get what she wanted by any means necessary. "Please don't make this into a big deal, Seth. I'm really hungry. I just want something to eat."

When she heard the deep-throated sigh she knew she'd won, but she wasn't going to let the gloating feeling that washed through her show in her voice.

"You win, babydoll, but you are to call me once you're done and are heading home. I want to know when we can expect you. No speeding, Bella. You just get back to Forks in one piece. A single scratch and you're done. You'll be driven back and forth to the Center every day you need to be there. Do you hear me, Bella?"

"You don't own me, Seth!" She snapped, her fury and stubborn self-reliance bubbling up in her like a volcano. "You don't have a say in what I can and can't do."

"We do when it comes to your safety and you know it!" The words were barked back at her almost harshly. She was a little startled by the fierceness of his tone. He _never_ used that voice with her. ""Damn it, Bella, I can't function without you! You're a part of me now. You're a part of us. Your health, safety, and happiness are everything to us…_promise_ me that you'll do as I say and call me." It was as much of a distressed plea as it was a demand. She knew that he'd have no qualms against hunting her down and while that would irritate her it was the desperation in his voice that broke her. He wasn't asking for much and she had decided to pick and choose the battles that mattered…this one wasn't one of them.

_I'll save my strength for when I'll need it most._

"I'll come back safe and sound and I swear that I'll call you before I come home." Her lips thinned. "…And Seth, if I have a paper-cut and any of you overreact you _will_ get a fight from me. There's a difference between being protective and being obsessive. I'm not going to let you cross that line."

"I know you won't, mate. I know you won't." The word 'mate' melted her heart just a little. "Call me, Bella. You promised."

"I know I did. Thank you, Seth."

"Be safe, baby."

When she hung up she found Evy leaning against the bumper of her truck and talking to someone on her own cellphone. Hers was newer than Bella's own as far as she could tell, but her discussion sounded as heated and frustrating as hers had been with Seth.

Bella tried to keep her ears out of what was most likely a highly personal conversation. So to keep herself occupied she tossed her bag into her truck, tucked her pass in the glove compartment, and the started the engine. The heat was already turned on so she didn't need to adjust it. By the time Evy had finished her conversation the truck had warmed up to a satisfactory level.

"You ready to go, then?" She asked the red-head as she hopped up into the cab.

"Yep. I just had to call home and make sure they knew I was going to be a little late since I was eating out again." She bit her cheek again, a stain of color blotching her cheeks. "I'm not a very good cook so I tend to eat out a lot if no one else is cooking. They can't cook much, either."

"I learned to cook when I was little. I have a knack for it, I guess. I'm no gourmet chef, though." She pulled her truck out of the parking lot and drove the short distance, with Evangeline's directions, to the diner nearby. She'd have left her truck in the parking lot behind the Center and walked if she wasn't so terrified of walking back to it in the dark and getting jumped again. She didn't know how Evy could do it. The other girl was either braver…_or dumber_…than she was.

"Not to sound nosey, but who did you call? I heard 'dad' before I called back to my place, but you were practically shooting steam when I was on my phone." Bella smirked a little, turning her truck off once she'd located a spot to park.

"A good friend of mine. I adore him, but he's a little overprotective. He can be a real pain in my butt." _Who are you kidding? They _all_ are pains in your butt!_ "I think it's the main reason we fight…well, that _I_ fight. He rarely steps up to meet me in battle."

"I know exactly how you feel. Come on. We can sit at my favorite table. They know me here."

Bella followed docilely after her, hopefully, new friend.

She couldn't really explain it…but she _really_ liked this girl.

_Maybe something in our psyches just clicked?_ Her stomach grumbled and she shook her head clear. _Nevermind that now. I'm hungry and I'm aiming to stuff my face so full it'll spill out of my ears._

* * *

><p>*<em>Earlier the same day<em>*

Jacob huffed a little as he finished hooking the new refrigerator into the wall of Lunar Cabin's kitchen and half pushed, half placed the appliance into the large space provided for it. It was stainless steel and had four doors…two top French Doors with a deep bottom drawer that acted as the freezer and an upper drawer that was shallower and kept at the same temperature as the fridge. The thing was practically industrial sized.

There were two more just like it hooked up in the garage along with a freezer box.

He glanced down at the front right pocket of his jeans. He hadn't felt the vibration of his cell and knew it hadn't rung, yet he still looked at it as if she would call at any moment or that, perhaps, he had missed her while he was working.

His growl was torn out of him at such a low register that he knew only another shifter would be able to hear him.

Jake hated allowing Bella as far away from him as Port Angeles. Not just a simple dislike…he _hated_ it. Even having her at her home with Charlie unnerved him. He wanted her safe and sound between his paws. He wanted her exactly where he knew she could not and would not be hurt. In Port Angeles she was out of his reach and it sickened him…it _scared_ him. His every waking moment centered around her and when he couldn't see her, feel her, he felt unsettled and lost.

As much as he wanted her to call him, to have him go to her and bring her back home where she belonged, he dreaded getting that call if it ever came. Bella was independent and head-strong. He knew that if she called for one of them it would be because there was absolutely no other option for her and she was in desperate need. It would give him a heart attack and send his wolf on a rampage if his little mate called because she was in an accident or some bastard decided to mug her.

Or worse.

_No!_ Her roared in his own mind, viciously shaking his head. _Don't even think about it. Bella is strong and capable. She'll be fine on her own. She won't get hurt. She'll be safe. She'll be safe!_

He chucked the remainder of his tools into the toolbox before picking it up and taking it into the garage with the others. He'd been keeping himself busy all day in order to keep his mind from wandering to his mate's solitary trip. As far as he knew his brothers had been doing the same. They would all be stuck in wolf form, pacing and fighting not to track her scent down if they didn't keep themselves preoccupied. At times like this he felt like he would go mad if he didn't have Bella back with him.

"Yo, Jake!" Paul's voice echoed through the cabin as he set the toolbox back onto its proper shelf. He directed his gaze towards the door leading into the home.

"In here, Paul."

"Sam's outside," Paul said by way of introduction once he was in view. He was buck naked, unfazed. "We need to talk about the pups before they join the ranks. You coming?"

"Yeah. I was just finishing up here." He jerked his thumb towards the door leading to the back yard. "Go out that way. We don't need Seth bringing those two by and seeing you walking out like that. We may be used to it, but they aren't."

"Not yet." Paul snorted, but did as he was ordered.

It was true enough. Their inhibitions and modesty flew out the proverbial window the first time any of them shifted. By sharing a single mind nothing was a secret. Their deepest, darkest feelings were as open as their actual physical words were. Clothing _was_ optional to them. They'd been stripped bare to each other inwardly so what sense did it make to hide their bodies from each other? It made it easier to shift, anyway, since clothing took time to strip off and stash away unless they wanted to shred everything.

Jake's ears twitched a little when he heard a car rolling up the drive. Seth's.

It had been agreed that Seth would get reacquainted with Brady and Collin before their shift, which was going to be within a few weeks. The parents, he winced as he remembered those conversations between them and the Council, had been alerted to the active gene. They had been shown that it wasn't all hokey-bullshit when Quil and Embry shifted in front of their eyes. They knew now to keep an eye on their kids and inform one of the pack if the shift looked imminent and one of them wasn't there to catch it before it happened. The two wouldn't know until they shifted that they were wolves since it was decided that the stress of being something beyond human would only make their first shift that much harder, but Seth would help to get them comfortable with the rest of their pack before their first phase.

They'd be introduced to Bella on Saturday.

As much as he didn't want those two close enough to his mate to touch her he knew that he had to get them accustomed to each other. Bella was going to be their Alpha female. She would have to be used to having two more wolves around and they would need to learn to defer to her as well as them. Bella would be as much in charge of the pack as he and his brothers were even though she'd need more watching over than anyone else in the pack would.

As he exited through the back door, hearing Seth entering the home with the two pack members to-be, he felt a feral grin pulling at his lips. Job detail had already been set up for those two as soon as they shifted and adjusted.

Due to the small size of the Quileute school many of the children were offered the option of attending school in Forks. Most remained on the Rez, but there were a few that wanted to branch out to the bigger school. He and the others had already looked into the regulations and stipulations on transferring students out to Forks and it appeared that Brady and Collin were eligible for that opportunity even at this time of the year.

Bella was going to be finding herself two babysitters very soon for while she was in school and they couldn't reach her.

As soon as he was out of range of the house he tugged his jeans off and shifted. The momentary pain dissipated as soon as it had shown itself. Paul's, Sam's, and Embry's minds flowed into his, though Embry was thoroughly distracted by a white-tailed deer off at the uppermost edge of their territory.

_Ignore him. He'll be stuck in the Hunt unless he catches a whiff of vamp._ Sam's inner smirk was apparent even as Jake came up to the two lounging beside a massive native pine. Paul and Sam were laying apart from each other, but not by much. They had grown accustomed to lying almost on top of each other in wolf form when they were shifted…a price they paid at having a pack mentality. It was another reason they had no problem with seeing each other naked. Physical closeness was inherent for pack animals, wolves especially.

_I intended to._ He shoved between the two until he could set his slightly bigger bulk down with them. He'd learned not to fight against his wolf on matters like this. He needed his pack close when he didn't have his mate…though he wanted his mate here with them. He would nuzzle her with his muzzle, maybe lick her a little, and then pin her to his side with a paw so that she would be cozy and warm. He wouldn't let her up, either, until she'd had a little nap to get her energy back up to where it needed to be.

On seeing his own thoughts Sam supplied and image of walking through the forest with Bella being sheltered by their bodies. She was so delicate and tiny. They towered over her in either form they took. A wolfish grin bloomed on his face when Sam imagined having to pick Bella up by the cuff of her shirt as if she was a wayward pup to maneuver her over a fallen log or small stream. She'd giggle, probably swat their noses, and then dart off once she was released in a game of Chase. A contented purr fell from his maw as he watched them run after her, her laughter drifting all the way back to them.

Paul had images of Bella running from them on the beach wearing a pretty blue bikini. Her face was lit up like the Fourth of July and her hair swayed behind her in a long, tight braid it had been done up in. She'd try to find freedom in the water only to be snatched up and tickled mercilessly by them. Once she was tuckered out completely they'd pull her from the water, wrap her in a beach towel, set her on a blanket, and then snuggled with her in their wolf forms so that their sunbaked fur could keep her comfortable even in the cooler summers of La Push.

_Spirits! I want her back._ Sam whined loudly, setting his head down onto Jacob's shoulders. Jake nipped his front paws, but nothing more than that. He didn't feel the least bit awkward by the physical contact…it wasn't they wanted each other in _that_ way, anyway. Bella was all they'd ever need or want for the rest of eternity.

Jacob knew that they'd end up spending as much time with Bella in their wolf forms as they did in their human bodies. It pleased him to know that she was so comfortable with them when they were shifted, too. She'd shown already how happy she was when they shifted and let her pet them. She'd _need_ to be at ease with them that way. Their wolves were an essential part of them now and always would be. Sometimes it grew to be too much for them and they needed to shift over and it pleased him to know that she wouldn't run away from them in fear of their other side. Heck, she'd probably run straight for them if she got the chance to play with the 'doggies'.

_Have we got everything set for Bella?_ Jacob asked, his mind drifting through the list of all the things they'd gone behind her back and ordered for her security and pleasure. They had promised not to buy anything for her, but she hadn't said anything about buying things for themselves that they intended for her to use as well…possibly a hundred times more than they ever would.

_Yeah. Everything should be coming within the next few weeks._ Paul's tongue dipped from his mouth happily. _She'll flip over the computer. Max'll have it ready next month._

Max, one of Paul's father's friends, owned his own tech shop in Seattle. The man knew more about electronics than even Paul did, which was saying something. They were having a desktop custom made especially for her. The memory would be massive and internet speeds would rival a Hacker's wet-dream. It would be colored an electric blue with silver and grey accents. The screen Paul had chosen was a touch-screen while the processor was the latest, highest speed they could manage to find. Max had been more than willing to give them whatever they asked once they'd told him that he had no constraint on funds.

Paul snorted. _Yeah, no problem there. The old fogy was practically chomping at the bit to get that order._

_He does know that we don't want all the extra shit that she'll never want or use, right?_ Sam peered lazily over Jacob's shoulder at the silver wolf. _I doubt we'd even use half of what he would want to put on there._

_Nah, he's not going to go overboard. He'll put on the best of everything we want and need, but he won't put on too much more than that._ When Paul yawned his pearly white fangs glistened a little in the foggy light of day. They were all tired for the same reason. They didn't sleep a wink due to nerves on letting their mate go to Port Angeles alone. _I'm having him put on the internet security we all use and other than making sure that computer is set up with Microsoft, Adobe, and iTunes he's got leeway. I made sure to tell him a bit about Bella's personality, likes, and dislikes and he's going to go off of that to decide what would make her the happiest._

_How about the generators, Jacob?_ Sam's head perked off of his back quickly. His anxiety drew Embry only partially away from his stalking before he turned back to it. There was no immediate trouble and his Hunt was more important since the source of Sam's unease was handled.

_It's hooked in and runs perfectly._ Ever since Bella's panic at the theater and her admittance to being afraid of the dark they'd gotten a generator for Lunar Cabin so that if the power ever went out light would be only a few rooms away. The fireplaces could and would provide warmth and some light, but judging by her harsh reaction to their asking her of her fear it wouldn't be nearly enough. They wanted her to always feel like she was beyond harm and a generator backing up the power flowing into their home in case of a storm would give her that comfort. It was a small expense and went a long way towards making them feel more assured for their mate's peace-of-mind.

_I want to know what scared her so much._ Quil growled as he entered their minds and shook out his fur. He set off at a lope to run a quick patrol of their territory now that he was off work. _That wasn't any normal fear. She was on the verge of breaking down. I don't want that shit happening again._

_We'll get her to talk to us when the time's right. We can't push her. Not now._ Jacob, too, yawned and dropped his head down onto his paws. Sam's head returned to his back and Paul rolled to his side so that his head was nestled near Jake's elbow. _We'll leave off of this conversation until she's back home. I'm strung tight enough as it is. When are you two planning to build the studio?_

_Within the next few days._ Paul replied in with an internal shrug, his mind drifting off a little into Embry's. Their grey and black spotted brother was in the process of feeding by that point, but his single-minded focus on his kill was enough to dampen their all-consuming need for their mate even if it was only in its smallest degree.

Paul and Sam were going to be sharing a space to make their art and had decided the best idea was so build a small studio on the property. They didn't want the space to be far from the house in case Bella needed them, but neither did they want it to be in the house because of the paint fumes from Paul's work and the noise of Sam's carving and metal work. None of them wanted to disturb Bella's peace when she was finally with them.

_Jared's going to supply the lumber from the yard. We've already got the order out and now we're just waiting for them to deliver the planks._ Sam inserted evenly, dozing off as best he could. None of them would be able to rest properly until Bella was back, but they could at least drift away enough to keep them from biting everyone else's heads off for disturbing them.

Bella really was like a direct link to their sanity.

Quil came to them nearly an hour later, laid down with them, and they listened as Seth got reacquainted with their future brothers in the house. It was light banter and between that and Embry's feeding they were able to take their minds off of Bella for the most part. They also discussed the new 'recruits' in light detail.

They all came alert when Seth got a call from Bella. Jacob felt irritation bubbling up in him when he realized that Bella was trying to play them off each other. She wanted to stay in Port Angeles and she figured that Seth would give in to her desires the easiest. He knew that they'd need to nip that in the butt before she made it a habit. They'd have to make her understand that she couldn't go to another one of them if she didn't get the answer she wanted from the first.

She _would_ get paddled for that if they caught her deliberately doing it.

When Seth hung up, Brady and Collin being left out of the conversation since Seth had gone out onto the back porch to talk to her, they all fell back into their shared thoughts.

_I want her back._ Paul whimpered, sounding more subdued than any of them had ever heard him.

They all agreed softly, their minds ticking down the hours and minutes until Bella would be back in her home and under their attentive gazes once more.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Howdy all! Here's the next chapter. It's mainly filler, but the content is just as important as everything else I have written thus far. I thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I can't believe I hit the 1,000 review mark! You have no idea how ecstatic that made me. Y'all will get to meet Brady and Collin in the next chapter…I'm excited about that one.

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy, and please review at your leisure. No cussing each other out, please.

Oh, I also wanted everyone to know that I now have this story posted on Tricky Raven, Jacob Black N Pack, and Impassionate Magic in case you would like to follow it there or chat with me if I happen to be on chat. My screen-name is the same as here.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	17. Chapter 17: Send in the Pups

**Chapter Seventeen: Send in the Pups**

"I'm not hungry, damn it!" Bella snarled deeply as she was plucked up by the waist for the fifth time that afternoon, carried into the kitchen, and sat down on the counter between two hulking shifter males. When she tried to scoot off the cool surface either Jacob or Seth would press a splayed-out hand on her stomach and slide her right back to where she was before.

"You didn't eat breakfast this morning." Jacob began calmly, his eyes still trained down on the pan full of scrambled eggs he was making. "Unless you're sick you're going to eat something, Bella. I don't care if it's just a piece of toast, fruit, eggs, or cereal. You need to eat."

"I told you that I'm not hungry." She glared between the two and then to the dining table where Embry was watching her avidly. She'd gotten up early for work, made her father an omelet and French Toast, and then escaped out the front door to get to the Outfitters. It turned out that five hours working somewhere you didn't want to be normally and on a day that one would normally consider 'free-time' made for a very cranky Bella. "And how did you know I didn't eat breakfast? I could have had a protein bar for all you know."

Embry gave her a pointed look. "We know everything about what you do and don't do, darlin'."

"Stalking me?" She shot back, her lips pulled down in a fierce frown. She really was cranky, but she couldn't help it. She'd had to deal with disgruntled customers all morning, Mike asking her to the Halloween Dance, and then having to pretend like she cared about Karen's, Mike's mother's, newest discovery on how best to get A1 Steak Sauce stains out of her husband's shirts. She thought she deserved at least an hour or so to be less than pleasant…it was their own faults for sneaking into her house during the hour she'd set aside for her gripe-fest.

"Babysitting." Embry corrected her with a shit-eating grin on his handsome face. She wanted to smack it off with the hot frying pan Jacob was using. Violent, yes, but she was in a crappy mood.

"I wanna hit you so bad right now." She admitted with narrowed eyes. She kicked her legs in frustration when they still didn't let her down off the counter and then hissed in pain as her left heal made solid contact with the counter.

"Oh, Bella." Seth sighed from where he'd been washing the dishes. He toweled his hands dry before dropping to one knee in front of her and setting his massive paws to either side of her left ankle. The heat was blissful. "You didn't wrap it, did you?"

"I just twisted it." She replied petulantly, vainly trying to tug her foot away even though the heat and pressure of his fingers and palms against her swollen flesh was all her body wanted at that point.

She was kind of surprised they hadn't done anything about her pain and limp until that point. While they hadn't been present in human for when she arrived home she knew that one of them was always keeping guard over her house in wolf form. That one, whomever it may have been at the time, would have alerted the others. She'd heard the cut-off howl for cripes sake! It had been slightly disconcerting that they hadn't come running for her immediately, hoisted her off of her feet, and demanded she let them take care of her.

Something in subconscious told her that they were trying to give her freedom, to let her take care of herself before they thought they should step in.

The time to act on her own had evidently come and gone.

"Embry, go get a wrap from the upstairs bathroom. There should be one under the sink." Jake shoveled the eggs off the pan and onto a plate before easing his arms under her knees and behind her back. He carried her into the living room where he set her down onto the sofa with her foot propped up on a pillow. Seth followed behind him with the plate of eggs, which he set down into her lap with gentility.

"I'm not hungry." She repeated on a snap as Jacob removed her sock to knead her abused flesh with his tanned, rough hands. She hissed again when his thumb caressed along the ball of her ankle.

"Eat a few bites. That's it." Embry returned with the elastic bandages and a tube of ointment. Jacob took them from him with a nod and proceeded to uncap the ointment and spread it over the skin of her ankle. It was liniment. Once it had been massaged into her skin he began to bind her ankle up. His eyes shot to her untouched plate and he sighed again, this time in frustration. "Why aren't you eating, Bella? It's going to make you sick if you don't eat."

"It'll make me sick if I _do_ eat when _I'm not hungry_." She lifted her plate from her lap and made to place it on the coffee table only to have Seth take it from her and bring it back into the kitchen. She smiled diminutively in triumph and looked between the two males remaining in the room. "I'll eat later when I'm ready to. Right now I'm not. _Ai-yah_!" She squealed as Jacob tightened the wrap a bit more.

"Sorry, hun. It needs to be a little tight. If it's too loose it's not going to do any good." He tapped her big toe where she had no pain. "How did this happen in the first place?"

"The same as always…I tripped." Yeah, she'd been trying to run away from Mike for the fourth time, tripped over a shipment of hunting bows that the buffoon had yet to put away like he'd been asked, and fallen flat on her face. She'd been lucky to get away with a wrenched ankle instead of a broken nose. As it was her nose still stung a tad. She wasn't going to tell any of that to them, though. They were strung-out enough as it was thinking her accident-prone status had made a comeback.

She didn't need the guys hunting Mike down and slaughtering him for something he hadn't done to her directly…indirectly he had caused it, but he didn't deserve to die.

_Not yet_. The inner her grumbled, still miffed that the boy couldn't get the hint that she didn't want him. That deeper part of herself wanted the kid to get a few smacks for debilitating her like this. He would be grateful to know that her more dominant, humane side didn't wish any ill upon his head if she could help it.

"I want you to stay off this foot, Bella." Jacob's hands caressed her calf once before he pinned the wrap down with metal clips and stood. She stared the long way up to his face. She felt very small in that moment. Fragile. His eyes flashed that eerie gold color as he looked her over. "And in an hour we're going to see if you're any hungrier. I don't like you not eating. More than half the day's gone already, Bella."

"I _know_, Jake." She exclaimed tiredly, her hands rubbing at her face. Embry came to stand behind her and worked his rough hands into her shoulders. She couldn't stop herself from leaning back into the touch. She felt so weak. "Damn it. Why do y'all have to be so much of a pain in my ass and then so considerate at the same time? I don't know if I'm coming or going with you!"

Seth chuckled as he came back into the living room and leaned over the back of the sofa so that he was peering down at her. It was intimidating having three gargantuan men staring down at her, apparently at ease with their great size and masculine energy. As nerve-racking as it was, though, it had her insides churning in a jumbled mess of desire and a feeling of home.

"We need to keep you on your toes, baby, or you'd have us strung up by ours." His hand reached out to brush a bang out of her eyes. His touch was gentle, his eyes gleaming with tenderness. "We only want what's best for you, little one."

"You're being too controlling about it." She blurted out, her fingers curling into fists and roughly nudging her shut eyelids. "I'm my own person. I know the limits of my body. If I say I'm not hungry then y'all should trust me to know when I should and shouldn't eat. If I get a scrape I don't need to be swaddled in cotton and banned from doing normal things. I don't need someone to take the knives away from me because they think I'm going to hurt myself when their backs are turned. I don't need to be babied, damn it!" By the end of it she was screeching, tears falling from her eyes.

_Oh great! I'm going straight from cranky to manic depressive. Just peachy._ The inner her was slamming her head against a particularly hard, thick wall. _Like they don't think I'm unstable as it is. Now I have to add this to the checklist against me._

She was hiccupping with restrained sobs when she felt herself being lifted up into thick, strong arms and set into a firm lap. She turned her head into Jacob's chest to hide her face. When she tried to clench her fingers into his clothed chest she felt three fingers slipping into each hand. She squeezed those instead and shook her forehead along Jake's breastbone. Her fingertips couldn't even reach around those fingers to scrape her palms they were so large.

"I'm so fucking stupid!" She shouted, her chest heaving as welled-up emotions poured out of her.

"Easy." Jake rumbled, his and the others voices laced thickly with a thrumming purr. One of his hands caressed the column of her neck while the other knuckled over her spine. She pounded on his chest weakly, the fingers still clutched in her hands, and whimpered. "Shh. Easy, mate. Be still. Shh."

"Why is everything so h-hard?" She hiccupped again. "What d-did I do that was so b-bad? I'm n-not a bad person."

"No you're not, Bella." Seth's lips touched her temple when her head turned enough on Jacob's chest to make it visible to the air and them. "You're selfless and beautiful and in need of a lot more love than you've been getting."

She flinched at the word 'love', but continued to burrow her way into Jacob's chest. She didn't know why she was freaking out like she was, but summed it up to the fact that she'd had a tough and busy week. With tutoring Tyler, driving out to Port Angeles for classes, working at Newton's with a boy that couldn't seem to take 'no' for an answer, and her constant tiredness she was kind of surprised that she hadn't snapped earlier on in the week. She felt like she was teetering on the edge of collapse with all that was happening with and around her.

It hadn't helped that the night she'd come home from Port Angeles on Tuesday, Jake had been waiting in ambush. He'd waited until she was settled into her room later that night, snuggled down and ready for bed, to squeeze his massive bulk through her window and trap her under her own covers, his frying pan sized hands sunken down into her blankets beside either of her shoulders.

"That was a naughty thing to do, Bella," he'd spoken softly, but in a defined way. She could only gape up at his dead-serious face. "No playing games with us, my mate. If you want something you don't go to the one you think you can get your wishes granted from the easiest. That's called manipulation and I know you're better than that."

He'd dropped his head down in the next instant and kissed her breath right out of her. When he pulled away her breathing was irregular, her eyes heavy. She'd only been able to blurrily make out a tender smile on his lips before he'd used his once restraining hands to close her eyelids with the pads of his thumbs. His hot lips had made contact with her forehead and the tip of her nose before he'd sent her off into the world of sleep with a whispered "goodnight, my little one".

She knew she'd end up doing it again someday, maybe not completely on purpose, but she'd felt like crap warmed over for running straight to Seth for what she wanted because he was the softest of them all. She felt like a total brat and swore to make it up to them, Seth especially, as soon as she possibly could.

Still, as much as tried to feel embarrassed about breaking down with these three around her she couldn't bring herself to feel the least bit mortified. It bothered her to admit it, but Seth was right. She didn't get the love and support she needed. It was better now…much better, but she only felt like she could let some of her burdens off of her shoulders with these three strong men, along with her other absent wolves, around. She felt like she had the world on her shoulders every day, day in and day out, but with them she could just let everything drop for just one minute and _breathe_.

_It feels so nice_.

Her crying subsided slowly until there was just a wet stain in Jacob's navy blue t-shirt to show for her meltdown. She pulled her face away from his chest and stared dismally at the darker splotch of fabric. His hands remained at her neck and back while the fingers, Seth's and Embry's, still clenched tightly in her fingers. Her white-knuckle grip probably would have hurt a normal man. They weren't bothered.

Embry and Seth used their free hands to swipe drying tears off of her rosy cheeks before Seth knocked her chin very gently with the crook of his finger. Her eyes drifted to his darker gaze.

"You okay now, babygirl?"

She nodded slowly, released her hold on their fingers, and leaned her body forward again until she was cuddled into Jake's chest once more. She felt as if she belonged there The damp spot was already drying against her cheek from his body heat. A quilt appeared behind her and she felt it being tucked between hers and Jacob's bodies so that she was wrapped up in warmth.

"You want to go out to the cabin?" Jake asked her soothingly, still rocking her smoothly. He was asking now. He hadn't just demanded it as he had earlier.

"In a minute." She whispered, her eyes closing on the stinging pain building behind her retinas. Crying always left her feeling emotionally refreshed, but physically exhausted.

She hadn't realized she'd dozed off until a hot finger tapped at her lips. "Open up." She did so and felt two miniscule tablets touch her tongue. A cold glass met her lips immediately afterwards. She drank the water carefully as it was tipped into her mouth, being sure to take the pills down the right tube. She didn't need them going down her airway and choking.

"Grab her coat." Jake ordered as she felt thick socks being pulled over her feet, more cautious on her left.

"Wait." She mumbled, shrugging the quilt off her shoulders somewhat. Jacob allowed her that much, but didn't let her slide off of his wide lap. "I wanna change outta this shirt. It smells." She crinkled her nose. She always came back home smelling like artificial pine after working at the Outfitters. Her body vibrated as Jacob laughed with her in his lap.

"Sure thing, Bells. Up ya get." He stood tall with her held securely in his arms. Her eyes widened. She kept forgetting how tall they were until she was suspended high off the ground by one of them.

"I can walk." She muttered as her friend carted her up the stairs as easily as if she wasn't in his arms at all. He ignored her as he maneuvered them both into her bedroom, depositing her on the small bed. When he moved to her dresser she lurched up onto her good foot.

"No, Jacob!"

"Sit down, honey." He chided quietly, eyeing her over his broad shoulder. She bit her lip, but sat down. "Is there anything you want specifically?"

"Uh," she started dumbly, feeling immensely awkward just sitting there, "no. Just grab anything."

The man sifted through her drawers quickly before pulling a brown, short-sleeved sweater from its depths. His steps were sure as he moved to her side with the item in his hands. She thought he was going to pass it over into her keeping, but instead he laid it on the bed behind her and reached for the hem of her shirt.

"What are you doing?" She nearly screamed.

"Helping."

"It's my ankle that's hurt, not my hands!" She smacked his knuckles roughly until he'd released her shirt. Her glower was instantaneous-combustion worthy. "Get out. I'll yell once I'm dressed."

"No standing on your feet." He commanded by way of agreement.

"Yes. Now out!" She pointed rudely towards her door. With a solid head-bob the male left her alone. She hurriedly threw off her odorous shirt and hustled into the fresh one, afraid that if she took too long her wolfy companion would come back into the room whether she called him or not. Her hurrying only served to make her more tired that she had been before her cry. When she called Jacob back into the room she was rubbing furiously at her eyes again.

"Aww, honey." She sneered inwardly at the mollycoddling, but continued to try and bring some life back into her fatigued body. Futile, apparently, since Jacob's immediate action of wrapping the quilt completely around her form until she resembled a pig-in-a-blanket served as the last push to her consciousness to take a hike.

She was _so_ tired.

"How about you take a nap, hmm?" He suggested even as he hoisted her back up into his arms. Her head lolled until it slunk against his left pectoral listlessly. Her eyes wouldn't open anymore. Had she had the energy to frown she would have at her body's decision to revolt.

"No nap." She mumbled, succumbing to the pull of oblivion with each breath she took..

"Just for a few minutes." He enticed her with his decadently deep voice, a rumbling purr dragging her further away from the waking world than she already was. "Just a nap, my mate. A short, little nap."

"No."

But she was already lost.

* * *

><p>Bella woke up to harsh whispers nearby. Her eyes peeked open slowly to find Jake's blue shirt in her face. Her body was swaying very gently from side to side while two firm arms supported her shoulders and knees. His mint and chocolate scent swaddled her almost as much as the quilt caressing her skin did. She was half-tempted to shut her eyes and fall back asleep again.<p>

"Spirits! Is she okay?" Paul's anxious voice made her lift her lids back open and glance out of the corner of her eyes. He was hurrying towards them from the front door of the 'cabin'. He was controlling his speed, she noted tiredly.

"She's fine. I think she just woke up from her nap." The giant that held her turned his ebony eyes down towards her and raised his forearm enough to bring her forehead to his lips. "You still tired, little one?"

"Mmm-hmm." She agreed, nuzzling into his chest.

"You can go back to sleep if you want. I can put you in your room." This time she grunted a negative. Her right foot kicked out childishly, but the movement had no effect on the male. His stride was just as sure and steady as it had been before. Paul arrived before she could even attempt to shake her other leg.

"What happened?"

"She fell at work since she didn't do it at home. I wrapped it nice and snug so it'll heal better." His eyes flashed suddenly. He drove his gaze towards the other two following behind them. She could only guess that they'd all shared a ride in Embry's Murano. "Go grab the ice-pack from the freezer and get the couch set up. Her foot should be propped up."

"I'm fine. You can put me down." But he didn't. He just carried her into the house with Paul shuffling alongside him, his eyes intent on her bandaged foot that hung conspicuously outside of her swaddling. "I'm fine, Paul." Bella hoped she sounded reassuring even with her fatigue laden voice.

He tried to smile back at her, an effort she appreciated.

"Give her to me." He commanded his Alpha with measured restraint and caring. Jake held back for only an instant before she was shifted to an equally strong embrace with barely more than a whisper through her hair to show for the movement. It was disturbing how large they were and yet how fluidly they could move. She was so much smaller and yet she sounded like an elephant stampeding through the brush with all of her not-so-graceful movements.

"Bella mine," he whispered, shifting her so that her face was cushioned in the crook of his neck and in a position closer to sitting than lying down. His nose nudged her temple. She felt and heard him inhale. He was seeking reassurances. "My little one."

She was struck deaf and dumb by the soulfulness of his call. It wrenched something deep inside of her, somewhere near the vicinity of her heart, and she found her body curling more into the heat of his. It seemed like she could never get enough of them holding her…touching her. Was she really this desperate for physical contact with another living being?

"I'm okay." She hushed, her eyes peering up at his face through her lashes. That look made him purr a little.

"You will be." He promised, carrying her into the well-heated home while Jacob held the door open from them to slide through. Her eyes instantly honed in on the males assembled in the living room…two of them unfamiliar to her, yet disconcertingly alike in looks to her men.

"Oh my God." She hissed, her eyes snapping between Paul and Jacob. They both nodded grimly to her, obviously determining what had her on edge. Her fingers fisted into the quilt bundled around her and consequentially into Paul's chest. "No." It was a heartfelt whisper that she fought to keep inaudible to the two boys as well as hiding a pain-stricken face from theirs.

_This shouldn't have happened._ She thought distressed. _If the Cullen's hadn't returned, if I hadn't kept Edward here, they could have all lived normal, happy lives. They wouldn't have to suffer through their genes activating._

A thought struck her like a lightning bolt and she felt the all-consuming desire to run for the hills.

_What if they think they're my mates, too?_

_Oh Hells no!_ The inner her shouted with disbelief and tingling bits of terror. _Not gonna happen! No no no! Run away you fool._

Apparently even her inner slut could only condone so much.

"Shh." Paul soothed in his deep, rumbling bass, carting her all the way into the living room where the men/boys had risen to their feet at her presence. _Talk about chivalry._ "No yours. We'll talk later."

Bella gulped down her apprehension, nearly a hundred-percent positive that he couldn't know that for certain, and wiggled enough to let Paul know that she wanted down. Grudgingly he allowed her her wish, though his right arm remained firmly wrapped around her waist. She tugged at her quilt enough to free her arms and then grinned up at the two boys she had yet to meet properly. She kept her weight settled on her right foot for the most part with Paul's right hand lending support to her left hip.

"Uhm, hi. I'm Bella. Bella Swan. Charlie Swan's daughter if you were going to ask." She held out her hand between them, looking for one of them to take it and shake rather than leaving her feeling supremely awkward.

"Brady Fuller." The taller of the two reached for her hand first. She felt Paul stiffen behind her, but when he didn't proceed to turn Neanderthal on her and the other boy-man she figured that he would be okay. As she shook Brady's hand she gave him a full once-over.

While he and the other boy weren't up to par in height or musculature of her men they were getting there. Their skin was as dark and sinfully beautiful as the others' were. She guessed them to be a little over six feet tall and broad in shoulder. Brady had maybe an inch on the other boy. Brady's nose was wider and flatter and his hair a darker brown instead of black. His hair was cut shaggily just above his ears, longer than her men, but still short. His eyes were a browned color darkening to obsidian. He had thinner lips, but perfectly curved eyebrows, neither too bold nor too thin. There was a semi-cute mole over his right brow, dark and flat. He was wearing a pair of dark-washed jeans and a purple t-shirt covered by a black button-up. He was a handsome devil, she couldn't deny that, but he had zero effect on her libido due to her ardor for _her_ men.

"Collin Littlesea. Nice to meet you." The other boy introduced himself, snatching her hand up once Brady had released it. Though he was smaller than his friend, at least she presumed they were friends with how closely they were standing beside each other, he still towered over her. His face was a bit more serious and aristocratic than his charismatic friend. He had a long, straight nose, though scarred over the bridge of it, bowed lips that called for kisses at all hours of the day, and almond shaped eyes as dark as night. His hair was pulled back into a low tail at the crown of his neck, the ends scraping against the middle of his shoulder blades. He had on pale jean pants and a simple black shirt. He, too, was handsome, but in a darker kind of way than Brady. Once again the female in her admitted their attractiveness, but brushed them off due to her single-minded focus on her men.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." _Too bad you had to meet me now with your first shift looming on the horizon_, she added internally. "Sorry about how I look right now. You caught me at a bad time."

Both of them beamed down at her.

"No worries. Seth's told us all about you." _Probably not all_, she thought as Brady and Collin shared a look before the taller boy chuckled, turning his attention back to her. "You're a first-class klutz, aren't you?"

"Reigning champ." She gloated, absently shifting to her left foot. She hissed in pain and buckled under her own weight. Paul needed no further incentive to pick up her and set her down onto the couch which someone had prepped for her. Her back was settled against a mound of pillows while her foot was elevated by a thicker one. Seth came out from seemingly nowhere and laid an ice-pack over her throbbing ankle.

"Thanks." She murmured, a heinous blush staining her cheeks.

"Wow, I guess you aren't always going to be the whitest pale-face I've ever seen," Brady chuckled from where he still stood, obviously ignorant to the several men around him that had grown agitated with that one poorly-phrased sentence. "That blush turns you as red as a cherry."

"Sure, make fun of the cripple when she can't get up and smack you. Coward." She snorted as if she was talking to her regular friends, enjoying the game of teasing, but her eyes darted frantically between her tensing wolves. She didn't like the malevolence raising in the air…it was becoming a bit difficult to breathe.

_Aren't these two supposed to be shifting soon? They'll be brothers. They can't fight! Not over this…not over me. Especially not when Brady's just joking!_

"J-jake…do you have something for me to drink? I'm really thirsty." She wasn't. Not really. She just needed to break the tension somehow and the best way she knew to do that was to get one of the guys to run off and fulfill one of her desires no matter how simple or stupid it was. Jake gazed down at her passively before nodding and heading off into the kitchen. She suspected he knew what she was doing, but had allowed her to do it anyway. He needed the excuse to calm down and she'd given him an out.

"Why don't you guys sit? My neck'll get sore looking up so high." She giggled a little, still a bit shaky with her men clenching and unclenching their fists around her.

Brady and Collin took their seats across from her on two separate pieces of furniture. They were laid back, very similar to Seth, but still different. Her mind whirled as she took them in for a second time, baffled by a feeling of family with these two.

_No, not family exactly._ She thought confusedly. _Friends, maybe? Or a kinship? Ugh, I don't know!_

Jacob returned with a tall glass of milk before her eyebrows could even contemplate knitting together as she struggled with her thoughts.. He set the clear glass down into her hands, making sure she had a firm grip on it, before letting go. She sipped at the cool liquid, enjoying the taste, but trying not to drink so much that she made herself sick or choked. She wasn't thirsty, as she'd already reaffirmed moments before, but milk was always welcome to her taste buds. She found it hilarious that she'd hated the stuff when she was little. She had called it 'icky'. Now she drank about two gallons of milk each week.

"You got the kitchen up and going, then?" She asked her men with a dazzling smile, her lips forming around the lip of the glass. Paul's and Embry's eyes sparked with lust as they stared resolutely at her lips. That lust fueled her own libido, but she brutally pushed it away. Now wasn't the time.

"Yeah, Jake finished installing everything on Tuesday and I got the rest of the electric wired to where it needed to go." Jared plunked down at the end of the sofa where her feet were elevated. While he didn't move to put them in his lap he set himself up to massage her right foot and ankle, being especially careful with her left foot when he tended to that one.

"That's good!" Bella complimented, referring to the updated kitchen and rewiring, downing a bit more of her milk. "So, how did you guys meet?" She hoped to Hell that these poor boys weren't just going to be thrown into the Supernatural world without at least knowing one of her men on a casual basis. They'd have enough trouble heading their way without that added stressor. They needed at least one person they trusted in this.

"We've known Seth for years. Hung out a handful of times. We're only a year younger than him." They were her age then. Collin shrugged. "We kind of all know each other with how small this Rez is, anyway."

"What about you? How'd you meet these guys?" Brady shot a look at the men that had come to sit clustered around her. The gleam in his eyes suggested that he suspected something, but wasn't willing to voice anything out loud until he had proof. Smart boy. His head might've been swiped off, otherwise.

"My dad's close friends with Jake's dad. When I lived here when I was younger I hung out in La Push a lot." She blushed a little, her eyes sinking to her lap when she remembered back to her younger years and how much things had changed, yet stayed the same now. "We kinda hit it off." Past and present.

The laughter started out low and soft until it evolved into an outright belly-laugh from the new duo, her men kicking in with them in the face of her brimming embarrassment. That embarrassment turned to snark, though, as they continued to laugh at her expense.

"You turds!" She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest like a belligerent child.

The laughing just got louder and her cheeks got redder.

_Men suck_.

* * *

><p>Paul hummed deep in his chest, lightly rocking back and forth in smooth, effortless strokes as the others continued to play the board game in front of him. The game was the third one of the evening, everyone agreeing that Isabella Swan had some freaky voodoo going on since she'd won the first two games seemingly effortlessly.<p>

"She cheats." Brady reiterated, his eyes glancing at the body curled up in Paul's lap, the girl who was presently out-cold for the time being since her eyes were closed and she was breathing in deeply, calmly. Sleepy kitten, she was.

"No one can possibly get Boardwalk and Park Place two games in a row and put hotels on 'em." Collin moved so that he could peer over the coffee table they'd set the game on and look directly at the little spitfire. He struggled with himself and his wolf not to drape his arms over her petite form to hide her more from the kid's sight. Her quilt hid most of her from everyone's view, but a baser part of himself wanted nothing more than to lock her away where no one else could look upon her light. Knowing she'd wither away and die if he did so was the only thing that kept him from securing her in isolation. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Sam assured them reaching over from his spot directly next to Paul to pet and fondle her currently unbound hair. "She's tuckered out. She had a busy week."

Paul argued within himself on whether or not to beat the living shit out of the males around him, his brothers included, while his mate got the sleep she so desperately, obviously needed and they continued to speak. The risk of disturbing her didn't outweigh any benefits for these morons. He could understand the two pups making noise, not grasping the fact that their alpha female was in need of rest, but his immediate brothers should have known better. They were speaking softer than either Brady or Collin, but they were still loud enough to cause her to stir.

With a huff of distaste, no actual words having escaped his mouth, Paul hooked his arms beneath his mate's body and stood tall. The pups gave him a startled look, but his brothers surveyed him for a quick second before nodding in agreement.

_Not like I need it anyway. She's my mate, too._

Paul carried Bella to the room that would be hers, opened the doors with a flick of his wrist, and moved them in. He shut the doors behind him, not giving a damn about what the pups would think of him being alone in a bedroom with Bella. She was his mate, not theirs. They would understand when they shifted and saw into their minds. For now he would put up with their aversion to his and his brothers' treatment of his female.

He shifted his arms a bit as he neared the bed so that Bella was balanced entirely in one of his arms, her head nestled up under his chin. He used his now free hand to pull down the blankets, the lower-most one being a beige microfiber sheet that they knew she'd love most due to its softness and warmth, and proceeded the lower her down onto the down-mattress. The hand he'd used to turn down the bedding caught her head swiftly as it lolled with his movements. She was so small that most of the back of her scalp could fit in the palm of his hand. It made him feel ten feet tall and humbled at the same time to have her slight weight entrusted to his care. Whether she knew it or not she trusted him.

He settled her head onto one of the mid-sized pillows and took a cylindrical, decorative one to the foot of the bed to prop her injured foot on outside of the heavy weight of the bedding. While it bothered him immensely that she was injured at all he was immensely grateful that it hadn't been anything more serious than a pulled muscle.

As he adjusted her to the most comfortable position he could think of, pulling the bedding up over her petite frame, he worked out a plan in his mind to keep her off of her foot as much as physically possible. He'd let her have her way at times as he did earlier when she wanted to greet the pups, but he preferred the idea of her lounging around the house, _this_ house, and letting them take care of her completely. They needed it do it as much as she needed it to happen.

He sat himself beside her on the bed with his back to the headboard, the fingers of his right hand caressing her chestnut hair and fine cheek bones. There were very small features in her face that hinted at latent Native blood, or foreign, but her skin was alabaster and did not tan well at all. The exoticness in her face, though, made him curious of where her family came from.

"She's sweet…cute." Brady spoke from out in the living room, deep in speaking-voice but unable to be heard by the one completely human being in the house, the one person in the entire world he cared most about.

Two low-pitched growls came from a couple of his brothers, nearly came from him, but the boy quickly spoke up again in placation.

"I'm not looking to screw her," he said so crassly Paul battled his wolf down to keep from rising off of Bella's bed where he was perched to smash his fist into the pup's face, "I'm just saying she's cute. I don't want her sexually."

"I think what Brady's trying to say is that we're looking at her like she's a sister or something along those lines." Collin interjected sagely. It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, his tone flat and serious. "So what's going on here? _Really_? You all chasing her tail, hoping for a bite? Cuz I'll tell you right now that some of the others on the Rez have seen it already and are spreading rumors. Ain't no girl worth the shit-storm y'all are about to blow down on yourselves."

"She's ours." Jacob, his Prime, inserted with all the force of a Stage Four Hurricane. This was not a topic up for debate or one to be frowned upon by others. "You may not understand it or welcome it, but Bella Swan belongs to us. _No one_ is going to get between us."

"This is fucked up, man!" Brady almost shouted, his tone tempered either by the fierce looks Paul knew his brothers must be giving the pups or his latent awareness of the innocent, dozing girl in the next room. "She's eighteen and from what I can see she doesn't accept what you guys want…not fully anyway. Spirits, haven't any of you even thought about the fact that you could be run off the Rez for this?"

"Quiet down or I'll drag your ass outta here." Sam barked, more wolf than man in that moment. "You wake her up and I'll fucking castrate you, pup."

Paul was startled out of his tensed eavesdropping when Bella rolled slightly in the cocoon of her bedding, whimpering so faintly he knew that even his brothers wouldn't be able to hear her. During the rant he'd removed his hand from her person to keep his nails from accidently shifting over to claws and nicking her fragile, butterfly-soft skin.

"Stop." She cried plaintively, her feet shifting restlessly as her body tried to wake from its power-nap. Her brows puckered as she pulled at her injured ankle and a very audible whimper escaped her pink-petal lips. His brothers went still and quiet in the other room while Brady continued to shove his foot in his mouth. He was oblivious to the sudden disquiet of the house.

"Damn it, you guys are idols to our people. If you go after this girl it's not going to end well. I don't wanna see you guys or her ostracized because of…" The pup got not farther in voicing his fears as Bella whimpered yet again.

The sound of a meaty fist knocking into flesh and bone served as a background noise as Paul moved to hover over his female, nuzzling his face into her neck in the only way he knew instinctively to calm her. The wolf was dominating the man and demanding peace and calm for its mte.

"Shh, Bella-mine. Shh. It's all right. Everyone's fine." His teeth scraped lightly against the smooth flesh of her shoulder, one hand rubbing circles over her stomach. Straddled and suspended over her as he was, he made his right leg hook over her left calf to keep any future movements on her part from tugging too much on her bruised ankle.

"They're fighting," she whined as she rose from the pits of her once peaceful sleep. Her arms were pinned under the covers by her sides with his weight keeping the blankets between them.

"It's okay. They'll stop." _Now that the pup's been knocked on the flat of his ass_, he added internally. When he shifted later he'd need to get the full, visual memory of it from one of his brothers. It would be a memory he'd cherish and snicker over until his dying days.

"They shouldn't fight." She complained, opening her eyes tiredly. He made a note, one of upmost importance and to be seen to for the immediate future and beyond, to make a schedule with his brothers on putting their mate down for daily naps. Two hours at a stretch, perhaps? He could tell that she was far more fatigued than she'd ever been in Jake's, Embry's, or Quil's memories of her before any of them had shifted. He felt the all-consuming need to correct that grievance.

Quickly.

A small smirk towed at his lips when he imagined it. She would live with them someday, hopefully soon, and they'd keep her blissfully happy and content all day and night. She could play around in whatever way she wished, she'd cook and eat with them, run errands together, and then when midday rolled around they would escort her, willingly or not, into her room for a nap. She'd be like an old-world lady of leisure. She would never have to lift a finger. He could already picture himself as her dutiful husband and valet, feeding her, bathing her, giving her utmost pleasure, and putting her right to bed whenever she got tired or cranky. He'd see to it that she never saw fit to frown again.

_Yeah, that'll be a fun quarrel to have with her. I love that fire of hers. It burns so hot and makes her even more attractive._

"Get him out of here, Collin. I'll drop by to talk to you guys later tonight." Seth, the youngest of them and the least dominant, had pulled up his mantle and was all but biting at the pups. Paul felt a strange sense of pride that the kid was finally pulling on his Alpha boots…he too often, in his not-so-humble opinion, let his dominant wolf get run through the ringer.

"Dude, he didn't mean anything bad by it. We were just…" Collin, too, was cut off, this time was a nearly feral Quil.

"Trying to stand between Bella and us. You two don't get it, not yet, and we don't expect you to. You _will_ accept it, though." There was a subtle warning in his tone as he continued. "You'll figure it out very soon why it's not wise for you to stand between us and what is ours…especially when we are equally hers. Leave now before I decide you two aren't even worth my time."

"Man, we like her and all, she's a great girl, but…"

"Get out!" Jacob thundered, the house all but shaking with the power radiating through the house. Paul's back shuddered and he felt himself flinch into his female's body slightly. Those pups were going to be in for a world of hurt once they shifted if they didn't learn submission to their betters…and in a damned hurry.

"Jake!" Bella called on a sobbing breath. Paul clamped down on her neck softly, but surely, and released the most powerful purr he could to calm her. She was still half asleep and getting worked up over this, however she felt it, was not good for her. He wanted to kill the pups himself for distressing her, but his first priority was getting his mate back into prime physical and mental health.

Bella shuffled under her mound of blankets for a short time more, but when the arguing had ceased, the two boys had left with Collin more or less dragging Brady out, and the air around them had thinned out greatly she ceased her struggles. Her chin nudged his cheek a little as she turned her head to the side. When he unclamped his teeth she placed a light kiss to the underside of his chin.

"Hi Paul." She whispered, seemingly unaware of her recent problematic sleep.

"Hello Bella." He scanned his eyes over her in an assessing manner, pleased beyond measure when he found her body lax and unmarred. Her neck was a little red and glistened from his saliva, but would have no noticeable trace of his nip in minutes.

That last thought made him surprisingly morose.

"Your eyes are yellow…and your teeth are sharper." Paul closed his eyes on her gently spoken words and ran his tongue over his teeth. He'd been shifting. The pups had troubled him so greatly he'd started shifting over while crouched over his defenseless, helpless mate. Revulsion pulsed through him when he thought of accidently…_a horrible accident!_...clawing into his mate's body without even knowing it. He'd never be able to live with himself.

"You okay?" She asked his with genuine concern, wiggling until she could finagle her arms out of their constrictive confines to set either palm to his cheeks. Her thumb pads fluttered almost weightlessly over his shut eyelids.

"I'm fine." The words were animalistic, more a deep growl than anything else. He choked back the wolf and opened his eyes to his angel. She was the only being capable of unmanning him or setting him on a pedestal high above the Earth. Just looking into her eyes he felt as if he could conquer the world…and yet she calmed him faster than any medical sedation when she returned his stare.

He cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Button."

"What happened?" She inquired innocently, her thumbs now tracing over his eyebrows…the other fingers scraping teasingly behind his ears. "I fell asleep, didn't I? I'm sorry. We were all having so much fun."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He bent forward until he could meet their foreheads together. The tip of his nose dipped past hers to barely touch her higher upper lip. Her breath fanned across his opened mouth. "You were tired. Still are. You had fun, hmm?"

"Uh-huh." She used her hands to direct his head to the crook of her neck before slipping them to his back. With gentle, yet insistent pressure she used the flat of her palms to push him down into a lying position on her smaller body. He acquiesced with a drained huff, still keeping his arms and legs rigid enough to prevent his greater weight from squishing hers. "They were nice…Brady's funny. Collin was okay once he loosened up a bit."

He was thankful that she hadn't heard the argument that had just taken place in the next room. Well, she hadn't remembered it at least. It probably would have damaged her fragile heart even more than it was to know that her belief that what they had and wanted couldn't work was validated by fellow eighteen year olds…and most likely the rest of the Rez.

"It helped that you kicked all our asses in Monopoly." He turned his head to face her instead of breathing into her hair and gave her a shrewd stare. "How'd you do it, anyway? Boardwalk and Park Place both times plus hotels. You had us beat before we could even blink."

"I'm that good." She giggled, her eyes lighter than any time he'd ever seen them.

"That good, huh? Good enough to get out of this?" He pinned enough of his weight onto her to keep her from wiggling away, or from hurting her ankle more, and used his thick fingers to probe and poke at her sides relentlessly. She screamed and laughed and cried as he tickled her mercilessly.

"P-please! No more!" She begged and pleaded with him until he too was consumed by his own laughter. He flopped down, cautious as ever, onto her and chuckled into her slender neck. Her hands fisted in his shoulders as she fought to regain her breathing. He could smell the saltiness of her tears in the air, but the sweetness and pungent spice of her scent snapped out in stark contrast letting him know that they were of joy, not pain or grief. He could handle the happy tears quite well in comparison to the other, more self-destructive version.

"So…how do you know they're not going to come after me like you all are?" Her question startled him enough to stall his breathing for a moment before he forced himself to relax. His hands, once teasing, slid under her back and shoulder blades to cradle her skull and brace her lower spine. He loved having her in his arms.

"We don't like them." At her raised brow he elaborated. "We were uneasy when we all figured out that you were our mate, but our wolves could handle it. They actually enjoyed it. When we scented the wolves in the pups coming out we all were enraged. We won't allow them to have you. It makes sense that if no part of us is welcoming of the idea that it won't happen."

"But you can't be certain." Her fingers flexed soothingly on the skin of his shoulders through the shirt he wore. Now that the pups were gone and he was alone with his female he wanted to rip the dreadful thing off. He was running too hot for the damned piece of fabric and it was blocking him from skin-to-almost-skin contact of his Button.

"I'm as sure of it as I can be. That is enough for now." He kissed her neck tenderly, passing his hotness into her. "You like them, then? You won't mind having them around?"

"No, I don't think I'd mind." Her nails scraped into the base of his skull where it met his spine. The feeling made him shiver with delight. "When are they going to change like you guys or don't you know?"

"We don't have an exact timeframe down for it, but usually it takes five weeks. They're at about three weeks now. We haven't told them yet because we don't want to run the risk of agitating them and kicking the gene in quicker or pushing it back further." His eyes closed a little as his female continued to scratch behind his ears. If this wasn't Heaven he didn't know what was. "We want them to be comfortable around us and you since they're going to be a part of the pack very soon."

"Makes sense."

He waited for a breadth of time before drumming his fingers very lightly against her scalp. She hmm'd. "You're stressed. Why?"

It had been gnawing at him since Sam had informed them all that Bella suffered from panic attacks. They'd all nearly had similar episodes when that information had been revealed to them. Of course they'd all brushed up on what exactly a panic attack was and how it could be remedied besides dosing Bella with heavy medication. Medicating her was _not_ something any of them would tolerate unless _absolutely_ necessary. Aspirin was one thin, prescription drugs was another.

They all now kept an even closer eye on her, determined to keep everyday stressors from prompting an attack of any kind.

"Just everything I guess." He felt the shoulder he wasn't using as a pillow shrug through her breastbone. "School, going back to work, us…it all just built up. I think once I get back into the rhythm of everything I'll be fine."

"You need more sleep, too." She didn't argue that fact, which was immensely grateful for. He really didn't want to have a spat with her after he had just gotten her sufficiently calmed from the yelling in the living room. If she wanted a fight she could have it later, not now.

"I'm hungry." She said out of the blue, her growling stomach only validating her claim. He chuckled again, his breath hot against her neck, and waited for one of his brothers to respond to her call. They'd bring in something for her to eat and he'd feed it to her. She was as cute and small as a button. He couldn't hold himself back from wanting to feed her. It was more than just a want for him…it was becoming a need.

He needed to know that she depended on him and if he fed her that made him feel as if he was needed, couldn't be forgotten, even though he understood well that she was a grown adult and could feed herself.

"Someone will bring something in soon." He set his hand over her stomach and pressed downward on it when the muscles in her intestines and stomach contracted again, releasing a sound that might have come out of a rabid grizzly bear instead of a petite human girl. Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. His heart lurched a little more towards her. "You should have eaten earlier," he scolded lightly, remembering the past several hours while she'd been with them and the pups that she'd turned down food.

She shrugged. "Wasn't hungry then. I am now."

"You're not looking after your body, Bella." He eyed the big hand he had set over her non-existent stomach. "You did this earlier in the week, too. You ended up staying in Port Angeles longer to eat there because you either didn't eat breakfast or lunch. Maybe even both." It gnawed at him that he couldn't shadow her every step while she was in school.

"I'm only hungry for two meals of the day, Paul. I can't shovel it in like you guys can." A bright smile spread across her face. "Besides, I made a friend over there. We're going to make it a thing to eat something at the diner there after studying."

"Evy, right?" At her nod he tilted his head. "I don't really like you just talking to people at random like that, Bella. What if she's dangerous? She could be mentally unstable and hurt you." At her gusty sigh he stiffened a bit, not with animosity but lust. She smelled so damned good.

"Background checks are run on all of us down there, Paul. And I like her. She's nice." Her hand rose and petted at his hair as if he was an obedient puppy. He thought he might give being one a shot if it got him this kind of attention on a daily basis.

_Yeah, I can be a good dog. A _very_ good dog._ His lids drooped with pleasure and contentment as her blunt nails grazed the backs of his ears. _Ooh, yes!_

"Good doggy." She giggled, scratching him roughly, but rhythmically. His right knee, the one pinning her left leg down, spasmed several dozen times as he pummeled the very real impulse to shake his leg. His mate saw and felt his apparent trouble and laughed even harder, her fingers magically scraping down his neck and shoulders. He couldn't suppress his shudder.

"_So_ good if you'll keep doing that." He arched his back into her touch, beyond being self-conscious of his behaviors. He wanted her touch more than he wanted his next breath.

"Cool it down, Paul." Jared snickered as he carried a bowl into the bedroom. He looked them both over quickly before settling his eyes on Bella specifically. A gentle, doting grin he knew they all possessed and allowed to show with only their female spread across his face.

"Dinner-time for mademoiselle." Bella snorted, covering up her mouth and nose with both hands at the ridiculous sound that had just escaped her. He knew where the snort came from, too. He was trying not to fall into the same undignified heap. Jared, one of his dear brothers, had just pronounced and effectively butchered 'mademoiselle' to sound like 'mad-dem-moise-als'. There was a ninety-five percent chance that he'd mispronounced the word to get a reaction out of the girl under him, but that other five percent was disturbing to think of…his pack mate couldn't be that stupid, surely.

Paul rose as swiftly as Shifter-possible and hauled his female into his lap, under the bedding to keep her warm, just as Jared set the bowl down onto her covered lap. Bella's gasp at his speed made him chuckled into her hair. His eyes darted over her head to gaze down at the plate of food. While he could smell it easily and differentiate between most – if not all – of the ingredients he couldn't push aside the human habit of looking for any visual appeal. It was familiar to him, but it still had all the attractiveness of a dung-beetle.

"Halibut chowder." Jared told her when she raised the spoon on her own and sniffed the contents of the bowl. Bella hummed slightly before tasting the reheated concoction. They were leftovers from the night before. Her eyes widened – at least they did from where he viewed her from the side – and she groaned down to her pink-polished toes.

"Oh wow!" She dove into the meal as if she was starved. Jared beamed at her indulgently, ignorant to the fact that she paid him no attention now that she had food, before turning to him. His tone was more serious, but still light.

"Call me back when she's done. I'll take the bowl back into the kitchen." Paul just bobbed his head and watched his brother go. By the time he returned his full awareness to the girl he discovered that she'd demolished almost half the bowl.

"Whoah!" He chided, tugging both the spoon and bowl out of her reach. She was forced to swallow her most recent spoonful to complain. She struggled to get the mouthful down since she'd shoved enough food in there for two of her. He cut off that argument before it could begin. "You keep eating like that and you'll either choke or make yourself sick. Sit back and I'll feed you."

He smirked with poorly contained mirth as she gave into him and settled her insignificant weight into his chest. She would fight him other times, he knew, but so far she'd kept to her world on allowing him to feed her when they weren't out in public. That was fine by him. He loved having her safe in his arms, knowing for certain that her body was getting exactly what it needed by him hand-feeding her.

As he fed her he thought on the peace and serenity she gave him. He felt more at home with her, like a whole man, over the past four weeks than he could remember feeling throughout his entire childhood.

Having a businessman as a father, who was always away with clients, and a mother who'd run out on them when he was younger, now passed due to cervical cancer, had left him alone for most of the month. He'd gone to school when he felt like it and played around with his buddies whenever he got the chance. He'd discovered women at a young age, too, and drowned a lot of his self-misery out by using their bodies physically as he felt emotionally used. He felt pussy-whipped for thinking it, but he'd been headed down a spiral of no return before Bella'd come into his life.

His daily routine before shifting for the first time had been wake up, eat, call one of his call-girls for a quick fuck, several stiff drinks, painting for seemingly countless hours until the sun looked about ready to drop off the face of the earth, hanging out with his school buddies at a bar or hang-out spot, finding another quick fuck, and then sliding into bed with a blaring headache waiting for next day of monotonous living. The only thing shifting did for him was increase his appeal to his bedmates physically and giving him an actual, laborious job to juggle in and out for his painting. Patrol made him calmer since the wolf in him had a chance to expend its energy as well as giving him a sense that he was a part of a family with his pack. They were as one as wolves. They were pack. They couldn't hate each other…not really.

And then he'd scented her…

That had been the proverbial noose tightening around his neck, only he wasn't about to be pushed off of the platform of life and left to die of a broken neck or strangulation. That noose had turned into a velvety leash, one loose enough that he had free movement, but held by a dainty hand that he longed to remain within immediate range of for its affectionate pats.

Bella was a goddess to him, plain compared to some of the women he'd lain with, but purely beautiful. It was her lightness and her innocence that gave her her beauty. She was innocent for all her huffing, puffing, and posturing, and woefully selfless. She didn't even have to try and he was on his knees before her, wanted to simply see her smile at him in her infinite kindness. He blamed his dependency to her, his need for her unfettered attention, on his parents neglecting him as a kid. Had he had the attention he'd so desperately desired, he probably wouldn't be such a controlling, clingy prick.

Then again, had he gotten his parents' full attention he might not have earned Bella's presence at all. He didn't even want to think of that possibility. It made his insides twist and knot in a way none too dissimilar from shifting from man to wolf, yet far more painful and lasting. Now that she was in his life he couldn't imagine a moment without her.

Bella's delicate fingers wrapping around his wrist as he tried to give her another spoonful drew him from his thoughts. She had her head arched back against his chest and was staring at him with open concern.

"You okay?" She asked him kindheartedly, her soft tone soothing all of his worries in one flail-swoop. She was here with him, now, and she wasn't going to leave him. She'd keep him human in all the ways it mattered without even having to try.

"I'm fine, Button. Do you want more?" He waved the hand with the spoon a bit to draw her attention to the nearly empty bowl, but she shook her head faintly at him.

"No. I'm full. Thank you." When she yawned kittenishly he smirked.

"Still tired, huh? You barely got an hour before you came out here according to Jake and not even half that before I brought you in here." His eyes darted to a clock on the wall. "It's only seven o'clock now, but do you think you're tired enough to sleep through the night?"

"I think it's a solid bet." She tittered into the open air. Then her head cocked off to the side as if she was considering something. Her hand pushed his already retreating hand farther away from herself. "I'm staying here tonight, aren't I?" Paul was thankful that she didn't sound the least bit upset by that fact.

"Of course." He moved the bowl to one of the side tables before rolling her under him, careful of her ankle, and tucked her into the relative safety of the blankets. He'd always believe that she was the safest in his arms, but with her comfortably ensconced in their pack home he was willing to give her some breathing room.

_Not a lot, but some_.

"Will you grab my phone? I left it out in the living room. I need to call dad." Even as she asked she was cozying down into the plush bedding, a dreamy look upon her angelic face.

"Sure thing, Bella-mine." He planted a quick kiss to her temple and then moved away, bowl in hand. She'd given him a directive and he intended to fulfill it before she checked out for the night.

"Paul?" He turned in the doorway to peer down at her. She was staring at him with a fathomless look in her eyes. His stomach knotted and his heart gave a full-out tug to the rest of him, demanding admittance of the truth he tried to deny. Her honey-glazed smile, heavy with fatigue, just about brought him to his knees. "Thank you. For everything."

Those whispered words broke him and his infamous resolve.

His mouth opened several times, a few of them some semblance of sound came out, but he was forced to swallow back the bulge in his throat to make words that she could understand. They still came out as a rasp.

"You don't need to thank any of us, Bella…if anything we – _I_ – should be thanking you."

When he returned to the room barely a minute later, the memory of his brothers all giving him approving, slightly worshipful nods for his parting words to their mate rolling in his mind, he found her sound asleep. Her lips were pulled back into a sedated smile.

He took his chance to call Charlie as he watched over her helpless form and grinned widely before the elder male answered. Warmth and devotion suffused him and it was an impossible haze for him to break out of.

He didn't _want_ to.

_I love you, Bella_, he thought just as his female's father picked up the line.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hey hey! How'd you like it? I hope it was satisfactory…as it is I'm so PUMPED to get the next chapter written, edited, and posted. I think you gals…and guys…will enjoy it. We're swamped down at work, but I'm trying to keep the chapters kinda close together. Unless something drastic happens I hope to have another chapter out in the next couple of weeks and not 4 or 6.

Anyway, I thank everyone for the reviews I've gotten so far and hope you'll continue to read and enjoy. Please review at your leisure. As always, no cussing each other out.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	18. Chapter 18: Just One More

* There are new pictures for this story!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eighteen: Just One More<strong>

The quiet of the woods was interrupted only by the nearly-soft pattering of feet on the leaf-strewn ground. It was unseasonably warm for Washington in mid-October. The sun, having been far more amicable to appearing this fall than in years prior, had decided to shine scantily throughout the morning and afternoon.

Isabella Swan was taking full advantage of it.

She squealed as a twig cracked maybe a dozen feet ahead of her in the tree-line. Her feet, neatly wrapped in several layers of gauze and tape normally worn by UFC fighters since she'd been brought to the cabin without shoes, skidded in the semi-dry dirt beneath them. She came to a full-stop, squinted her eyes to see if she could visually catch sight of her Hunter where he'd obviously intercepted her, and performed an about-face.

She giggled a little as an amused snort echoed behind her.

As she half-ran, marveling at how much better her ankle felt this morning compared to the night before, she darted her eyes around in search of any route of escape. Hopeless, she knew. She'd been in the woods for the past two hours with her Hunter hot on her heels…half the time he'd already caught her and allowed her to escape to keep the game going. She appreciated that. It kind of stung her pride a bit that she could be nabbed so easily in the first place.

Her eyes lit on a Bigleaf Maple tree about a hundred feet away. A smirk cracked across her face as she ran headlong for it. She had only a twinge of discomfort from her ankle at the burst of speed.

Bella screeched when she felt hot, slightly moist breath brush over the back of her neck and doubled her efforts to get away. She didn't hear him fall away any farther, knew he was probably as close as he had been this entire time, but assumed that he was willing to keep playing since he hadn't pinned her _yet_.

Once at the tree she made a flying leap so that her hands could connect with a low-hanging branch. With a grunt she mustered every ounce of spare energy she had, honed from years of gym teachers demanding that she hold her chin above a raised bar for at least fifteen seconds, and hauled her struggling body up over the rough bark. The mingled scent of nearby pine, maple, and wood-rot trickled through her nostrils as she hauled her small frame up over the branch. She was obscenely grateful that she was as petite as she was otherwise she doubted she could have managed the lift.

However she _was_ slightly grouchy now that she hadn't demanded her sweater instead of the borrowed t-shirt she'd been finagled into before leaving the cabin. Her sweater was thicker and while it didn't cover as much skin as the oversized monstrosity she now wore it would have treated her skin better with the bark biting against her. She'd gotten her jeans back at least.

Huffing a bit more, Bella hiked her body up one branch higher before looking down to the ground.

She stuck her tongue out at the sandy-brown wolf standing in her shadow several feet under her. The wolf growled a little, not threateningly, and dropped a very familiar blanket from his mouth. He used a single paw to roll the mass of fabric out from its previously trundled position. The wolf then proceeded to look between the blanket and her pointedly.

"Absolutely not." She sniffed, swinging her feet beneath her as she sat on her selected branch. These trees were all so old that most of them towered over everyone and everything, the branches wide and thick, able to handle even the weight of a harsh winter's snow. She was thankful for that now as it kept her out of reaching distance of the climbing-inept wolf-boy. As a wolf he didn't have opposable thumbs.

_Sucker_.

Seth whimpered, setting his head down into his paws with his haunches high in the air. He tilted his head adorably so that he was looking up at her with a single golden eye. She smothered the urge to fawn over him like a love-sick fan-girl. He was as big as a Grizzly, how could she think something that massive with a mouth full of sharp teeth could be adorable?

_Guess I'm just twisted_.

"It's not going to work, puppy." She mock-frowned at him, but genuinely scowled at the lilac-colored comforter. "You tricked me once already and I ended up trapped in that thing for fifteen minutes. Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me."

Seth's tail and bum slammed against the ground with magnificent force as another whimper was seemingly wrenched from his maw. He cried piteously as he looked up at her with sad eyes. Bella had to bite her lip and look to the tree-trunk close behind her to keep her resolve. When he did that all she wanted to do was snuggle up into him, get him to roll over onto his back, and rub the ever-loving snot out of his silky-soft tummy. He had mastered the puppy eyes.

The last time she'd given into that urge she had found herself rolled under him with his tongue bathing her cheeks mercilessly.

"Don't even start, you big faker!" She attempted to add a bite to her tone, but the affect was lost in her twitchingly, smiling lips. "I'm not coming down so you can just take that death-trap you call a blanket away."

Her ears perked when they caught the faint sound of rustling leaves. Before she could even turn to look she felt something slightly cold and wet skim across her left ankle. She squealed disagreeably, snapped her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arm around the tree trunk for support, and glared down to where she thought Seth would be.

He was exactly where he had been before only now he was standing up on his back paws, the fronts braced on the trunk of her hide-out, with his nose extremely close to her branch. It was his nose that she had felt against her ankle, then.

Bella marveled silently at the sheer size of the wolf like this. On all fours he stood somewhere between six and a half and seven feet from front-paws to the tips of his ears. Balanced on his back feet she added another four feet _easily_ to that original height. It was no wonder that they were such giants as 'normal' men. In wolf form they could crush armies.

_Okay, maybe that's a bit overkill_…_or not_.

Seth's claws lightly scraped her tree as he released a high-pitched whimper, stretching his nose even closer to her, but just barely able to touch the base of her branch. The poor puppy was too short to reach her.

_Ha ha_. The inner her taunted, dancing on her tiptoes as she watched the wolf try…_and fail_…to apprehend her.

After another minute of trying unsuccessfully to reach her Seth chuffed, his hot breath blooming out and around her raised body, before dropping down to his four paws. His eyes seemed to squint as he looked up at her. He was analyzing the situation. He paced around the tree looking for flaws, she supposed. He stopped dead, however, several minutes in to his study. Her brows furrowed as he turned his attention to the woods further out before returning his attention back to her and her perch.

She knew what he had frozen over once she saw another wolf, slightly larger than Seth, come waltzing through the undergrowth. Its greyed fur sported black spots along its ridge and haunches. Its face, paler grey than the rest of its body, immediately zoned in on her. She could have sworn she saw the wolf's lips tip up in a wolfish smirk.

"Oh no," she began, pointing her finger at the new arrival and then at her current hunter, "go away, Embry. This isn't right. It's not fair. Two against one is _not_ fair."

It wasn't, either. She could find herself easily coralled by just one of them…with two she stood little to no chance of getting her way. Even in wolf form they had her hopelessly dependent on them. What was worse was that the most basic part of her didn't want to fight that feeling of rightness with them. It appeared that in their oversized wolf forms she was even more entranced by them and wanted them even more.

It scared her a little to feel her mind slipping them slowly but surely from the roll of 'friends' to something more complex.

…Something more intimate.

_Nope, won't think about it now._ She shook her head internally. _I need my wits to get out of this and thinking about us like that isn't going to keep me away from that damned blanket_.

Embry moved to stand up next to Seth silently. They both surveyed her with cool, glittering eyes before Embry suddenly dropped to his stomach on the ground. His sharp eyes trained on her like a hunting dog's on a fluttering quail. Bella felt her heart stutter at the intensity in that look. Her hands twitched where they still grasped the trunk. She found herself lost in that look, wondering faintly if this was what a mouse looked like caught in a cobra's trance.

_God help me…I want to be lured in. I _want_ to be eaten_.

She was so lost in his gaze that she completely missed Seth bracing his back paws on Embry's wide back and pressing his front paws to the trunk once more. The added boost of Embry's torso gave Seth just enough height to snap his teeth around the back of her borrowed shirt.

"Whoah! Hey!" She screeched as she was pulled backwards off the branch. Her fingers instinctively clamped around the hem of her shirt to keep from sliding out of its oversized confines as her feet dangled even more helplessly now over the ground.

_Funny, but it looks a lot farther away now than it did when I was sitting on that branch_. She blanched at that somber thought, the image of her pulling a 'Wille-E'Coyote' over the lip of a canyon blinking in her mind's eye, her body swaying mildly by Seth's tightly clamped muzzle.

Her stomach lurched a little as Seth touched down, extremely softly in deference to her fragility and his tentative hold on the fairly weakly-made shirt. Embry wiggled out from under Seth to stand directly in front of them. His tongue hung out of his mouth as Seth continued to hold her body aloft.

"You're cheaters." She complained, glaring in every direction but his.

Embry's breathing came out in rugged, harsh breaths that signaled laughter. Just as she stuck her tongue out at him Seth pivoted so that she was hanging directly over the blanket. She laughed, unable to stop herself, and kicked her legs frantically at the sight of it.

"No! I don't wanna be put down on that thing." Seth, of course, paid her no mind. He swung her slightly so that her kicking feet couldn't make running contact with the ground as he set her down. Instead she was left sitting on her rear end, a sullen look spread across her face. She flailed her legs in a bid to get up, even reached back to tug her hands at his furry lips near the hand-sized fangs clamped down on the fabric covering her, but it was all in vain. The air in his lungs puffed over her back and neck as he made a wolfish chuckle.

Seth turned his body off to the side and pivoted her on her rump with his jaws. This maneuver allowed him to lay down on the blanket with her so that she was positioned between his back left leg and front left leg as he leaned onto his side, his teeth never leaving the shirt.

She pulled harshly at the fur of his stomach in retaliation.

Embry trotted in front of her until he was stationed as solidly as a brick wall in before them. He, too, laid down on his side so that his stomach was as much revealed to her as Seth's was. Their tails lightly twitched at each other's snouts. In a way they resembled a wolf-shaped yin-yang.

Seth released her with a slight lick to the nape of her neck.

It gave her goosebumps.

Bella glanced perplexedly between the two wolves and the four or five foot diameter space she occupied between them. The blanket was thick, as most comforters tended to be, and still warm from Seth's breath from carrying it in his mouth after her. Their own body heat radiated all around her keeping her plenty warm in the above-average Washington Fall.

Shrugging her shoulders Bella moved to crawl up over Seth's flanks to continue their game, but felt a firm tug at her shirt. Her fingers gripped and pulled at the sandy fur beneath her as she was forcefully towed back into the empty circle.

Embry chuffed and released her when she was seated for a second time.

Bella grumbled to herself, amending her earlier thought of them resembling a Yin-Yang. They weren't that at all. They were the living embodiment of a playpen and she was the baby. She was stuck.

With that thought in mind she leaned back so that her head was supported by Seth's stomach with her feet propped up on Embry's back paws. Their heat was marvelous and worked like a sedative to calm her down. She knew that if she let herself relax too much that she would fall asleep in a matter of moments. It wouldn't bother them in the least bit, but this was the first time in what felt like days that she was awake enough to enjoy herself. She hadn't even yawned since waking up!

Seth's and Embry's eyes closed, purrs of contentment rising in the air around them as they dozed around her. She wouldn't let that fool her. They were one-hundred percent aware of her and her movements.

The stinkers would apprehend her the moment she tried to crawl out of their circle of protection.

Bella busied her fingers with the fringe of her shirt, liking the well-worn feel of the fabric against her skin. Even as her eyes trained in on the speckles and spots of black marring the grey wolf's back she let her mind wander as it tended to do nowadays.

She had woken up that morning in the oversized bed in 'her' room. She'd been curled up on her side with the blankets tucked up over her lips so that only her nose and the little above that point showed. She had marveled in the softness of the blanket closest to her skin and even rubbed her upper lip across it. Upon peeking open her eyes she had found the pillows arranged around her in a semi-circle as if creating a wall to prevent her from falling off of the high bed. She had little doubt that one of the guys, most likely Paul, had done that. Silly boy, thinking she could roll right off this massive bed. It would take her at _least_ two full rolls to reach either side of the bed from the middle where she was stationed.

She'd been startled when she shifted under her mound of blankets to discover that; one, she had very little pain in her ankle at all and two, she was dressed in only an oversized graphic t-shirt and her panties. Her cheeks had flushed brightly at the thought of one of her boys changing her, which she knew they must have done while she was asleep, and seeing her close to naked. She felt that her bra was missing and prayed to whatever deity was out there that whoever had changed her had slipped the shirt onto her and removed her bra from under its depths so that they wouldn't see anything unseemly.

Probably a false hope on her part.

She had barely managed to wiggle out from under the heavy weight of fabric to head for the bathroom on her own when the double doors leading to the rest of the house were thrown open and she was tugged off of her feet by Paul.

"Whoah! Paul, put me down." She had beat at his chest and received no reaction. Not even a twitch.

"You shouldn't be on your feet, Button." He'd chided her lightly, moving to take her back to bed. She retaliated by reaching up, shoving her fingertips into his nostrils, and tugging his head forcefully downwards so that he was made to look at her. She was pleased by the shock displayed in his darkened orbs.

"I'm an adult, Paul, and know the limits of my own body. I'm _not_ staying in bed all day." She pulled harshly at his nose once more before pointing with her contaminated fingers at the doorway so near to her and he was taking her away from. "I want to go to the bathroom on my own."

She didn't get her wish. Instead he'd changed directions and taken her into the massive bathroom attached to 'her' bedroom. Paul had plunked her down onto the sink, elevated off of the ground so that she had little choice but to just sit there and let him do as he pleased, and proceeded to fill the Jacuzzi tub with steaming hot water.

"You're going to take a nice, long bath while we make breakfast and when you're done I'll come get you." His eyes had sparkled when he'd turned back to her. "You, my little mate, are going to play with Seth today."

"Huh?"

"Seth's your babysitter for today while the rest of us finish with our chores and jobs." Once he'd adjusted the water to the perfect temperature he disappeared into the walk-in-closet for only a minute or so before returning with an ornate, sapphire blue robe with silvered detailing in the floor-length sleeves*. Her jaw unhinged a little when she registered that the large swatch of fabric was a near-exact replica of the kimono robe that Rose had worn in Titanic, perhaps a little less see-through and a different color, but still the same shape and design.

"What's that?" She asked in a squeaking voice, knowing well _what_ is was, but not what he intended for it to be used for.

"This is your bathrobe. You need to wear something until your other clothes are dried." At his words she scowled deeply. A rumbling chuckle bounced off the walls around them. "Don't pout, Button. It'll wrinkle that pretty face of yours."

"I won't wrinkle." She promised, eyeing the large piece of fabric. It was actually very beautiful. She wanted nothing more than to run her fingers over and over it again until the pads of her fingers were desensitized to it.

_They couldn't have just gotten a Walmart bathrobe like every other sensible person on Earth, could they?_ She'd thought peevishly, brushed over with a tingling mess of thankfulness. She wanted to complain, but she had gone so long without someone senselessly caring about her and her wants that now that she had a handful of men showing such caring indulgence she didn't have it in her to refuse.

"Don't take the risk. Your face is perfect as it is…I don't think I'd be able to handle even a tiny bit more character being added here." He'd set the robe over the opposite sink by then and contented himself with rubbing his thumbs over the corners of her eyes and mouth as much as she had to his the night before.

"Oh, go away." It wasn't said as harshly as she'd planned. The blush had ruined it.

"As you wish, Button." She was startled into a moan when his head ducked and his lips claimed hers fiercely. His harder lips slanted over hers lovingly before his teeth peeked out and nipped her lower lip until she'd opened to him. His tongue plunged through her mouth like a pirate seeking treasure and by the time he'd finished plundering she'd been left panting on the counter, her back and head connecting to the mirror. His smug grin made her want to smack it off with the flat end of a hairbrush, but he'd escaped through the double doors before she could find one…not before placing her on the ground safe and sound, though.

"Enjoy your bath!" He'd called back cheerily, fully aware of her drugged stupor.

"Stupid, arrogant wolf." She'd growled, stripping out of her borrowed t-shirt and her panties. She _really_ hoped none of them got a peak at her girls.

_Damn it!_ She'd thought. _I hate it when I get feeling like a little girl…all shy and embarrassed. It's humiliating._

Her bath had been deliriously good. The jets in the tub had worked away almost every single kink in her weary body and when she'd gotten out she'd felt more revitalized than tired. She'd chosen to forego the ankle wrap since she had almost no pain in it, however that had come to happen, and tied the single wrap about her waist to keep the robe closed. She left her hair hanging loose after she used the blow-dryer she'd found hiding under the sink. She'd been unable to resist looking at herself in the three-way mirrors in the closet.

Her breathing had stuttered to a halt to see herself. She didn't think she'd ever felt or looked so pretty in the morning. The robe made the paleness of her skin glow in stark relief rather than washing her out. It also flattered her naturally thin figure to a T. With her hair running down her back and over her shoulders she thought she looked a bit ethereal. Or erogenous.

Walking out for breakfast had been a fan-faire. The guys, consisting of Paul, Sam, and Embry, had gawked openly at her from the kitchen. She could have sworn that Embry's jaw unhinged. Sam had staggered back and fallen into the counter. Only her giggling seemed to pull them back to the real world. Paul had been the first to recover and carried her bridal style the rest of the way to the head seat at the dining table. It was designed a bit more femininely than the other chairs with a bigger cushion on the seat. It still matched the others, though.

_Made for a woman, then_.

They'd eaten and chatted amicably. The guys made it a point to compliment her endlessly and couldn't seem to look away from her for any extended period of time. Any time she opened her mouth she had their full attention. She could tell that they were making it a point to memorize anything and everything she said. In between they fed her crepes and toast until she was left so full that mobility was temporarily impossible.

As soon as "no more, please" had escaped her mouth she was escorted outside to enjoy the decadently warm weather. Sam sat her down on one of the cushioned lunge chairs with her feet curled under her.

"Seth'll be here in a few minutes. He's just settling some business." He'd bent forward to peck her on the cheek, rubbing his calloused fingers across her neck as he did so. She was thankful for the cover of the robe since her skin had erupted into goosebumps and the fine hairs on her arms stood up tall in the face of his delicate touch.

"We'll be back later." Before leaving he'd handed her her phone.

The first thing she did was call her father.

That conversation had kept her busy until Seth arrived fifteen minutes later. She'd smiled at him and ended her reassurances with her father. He'd been eased the night before by Paul, but had been anxious to hear from her own mouth that she was fine.

Seth had proceeded to help her dress in her 'chosen' clothing for the day. It had been slightly mortifying to have him in the same room with her, gently removing her robe and easing her into her jeans and another of their shirts, minus her bra. While his eyes had remained cool and connected with her own most of the time she was by no means stupid. She'd felt his erection against her back when he'd turned her to button her pants up as if she was incapable of doing so herself.

She bet he could have smelt her own panting nether-regions…all his fault since it was the feeling of his hot, insistent hands on her that had triggered her arousal.

Their game had started shortly after he'd wrapped her feet up upon quickly discovering that they had no socks that would fit her feet. He'd made the remark that she should start storing some of her clothing in her closet at the cabin so that she'd have things she was more comfortable with. They had no problems with sharing their clothes with her, but Seth said they wanted her to feel at home here in La Push.

She had pretended not to hear him.

Huffing, Bella removed herself from her thoughts. She had several more hours to go before she had to return home to her father and she was going to milk her time with the guys as much as she possibly could.

Embry's eye peeked open to stare at her.

Coming to a decision on how to entertain herself since playing Hide and Seek along with Tag was out of the question, Bella pivoted herself on her knees so that she was crawling to the grey-speckled wolf's face. His ears perked curiously and she found the gesture kind of adorable.

"I'm going to pet you." She told him firmly as she came to sit cross-legged in front of his maw. Embry obliged her instantly by setting his snout over her legs so that his nose lay nestled up into her bellybutton. She giggled when he chuffed, blowing hot air all around her. It ricocheted off of the shirt to carry across her face. Despite being in wolf form they had no rotting odor a regular animal would obtain from eating animal flesh…and as disgusting as it was she _knew_ they were feeding off of wild animals as well as human food.

Bella proceeded to run her hands through the half coarse, half soft fur adorning her friend's skull. He released a contented rumble followed soon-after by Seth. She cocked a brow at the wolf behind her who did not have her physical attention. It clicked in her mind that they shared thoughts, feelings, and emotions while shifted so it made sense that if Embry was enjoying himself that the younger wolf would be, too.

With little prodding she was able to make Embry raise his head up off of her lap so that his golden eyes were level with hers. Using a gentle touch she prodded his mouth open so that she could get a better look at his jowls.

_Holy damn!_ She thought with widening eyes. She skimmed her index finger across one of the most prominent canines at the front of his mouth. _He could snap me in half with a single bite!_

What bothered her wasn't the fact that their capability for menace was boundless; it was the fact that she found herself being turned on by it. The wolves…these men had the ability to destroy her. They had the strength in their blood to see that there would be nothing left of her body if they chose to unleash their fury on her and yet they were undeniably gentle with her. They cradled her and swaddled her like glass, their muscles and bodies like shields against anything and everything that might come too close to her. It was something most women dreamed of having the men in their lives show towards them.

It was a heady feeling knowing that she had the single-minded focus of seven Supernatural males on her and solely her.

Bella groaned in frustration at her wayward thoughts.

_I'm a sick puppy_.

* * *

><p>Embry set his mate onto her feet several hours later in front of Sam's house, allowing his fingers to pull through her stray, silky locks as she steadied herself.<p>

He was reluctant to bring her to Sam's humble home. Not because he didn't feel that she was safe there, but because they had been having so much fun earlier. He and Seth had made her take a small break from playing her game, about an hour's worth of time, but as soon as that hour was up Bella had bounded off like a harried bunny into the woods. Hunting had never been so _fun_.

_It could only have been better if I could've ravished my captured mate once I'd caught her_.

He groaned when his cock twitched and swelled in his cut-offs. He knew by now that he should steer clear of thoughts like that if he wanted to make it through the day without blue-balls, but it was damned near impossible with having Bella right next to him.

"Sam?" Bella called out sweetly as she trotted away from him to the white front door of his brother's home.

Embry kept a watchful eye on her as she moved away from him. Her footing was steady and sure at the moment, but his mate was a klutz. She could trip over a random speck of dust. He'd be there to catch her if she fell, all the while hiding his laughing mouth from her sight to prevent her from injuring herself when she reached out to smack him. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she'd want to wallop him for laughing at her.

It amazed him that this delicate creature, his petite mate, could resemble an angel fallen to Earth and yet possess so little grace. Her body made one think that she would have a dancer's poise, but she didn't. She had about as much balance as an elephant on tranquilizer darts.

_Simply put she has none_.

"What are you doing here, little one?" Sam asked from the open doorway. He swept their mate up into his arms to place a chaste kiss on her forehead. It irked him that seeing his brother kissing her didn't irk him. He wanted to hate Sam for having to share her, but he couldn't. They needed her now and no human sensitivities were going to change that.

"Uhm, Paul said you made that barrette he gave me a while ago and that you have more stuff," she started shyly, her cheeks turned a pretty pink. Embry felt the same endeared smile on his face that the older wolf sported as they watched her fidget. "Do you think I could look at the other stuff? I, uh, would like to borrow one if it matches my costume for the Halloween Dance if that's all right? I'll bring it right back!"

Sam chuckled, batting his hand over the top of her head to frizz her hair out and make her growl. "You don't need to bring any of them back, Bella. Any of the jewelry I've made I've made for you. Come on, I'll show you to my studio where I keep my work."

Embry and Sam nodded cordially to each other as he came to stand behind them.

Sam led Bella into his home, small yet quaint, and used a big hand at her back to propel her into the back room. The back room had once been a bedroom and the den, but years back Sam had removed the wall separating them to make one large room. There were many windows on the back wall which gave Sam the added light he needed to work by. The floors were tile to prevent accidental fires and to make clean-up easier. The walls were a pale grey closer to white than anything. This was his Beta's studio.

"You see that trunk? I keep the jewelry in there." Sam pointed a figure towards a medium-sized trunk near a shelving unit of all of his carving tools. It was carved fairly simply on the outside, but Embry knew that the inside was made with many drawers and boxes for various women's jewelries. He'd seen the thing when Sam had first finished it in his Senior year of high-school. The trunk had been his first real project before he'd gotten into carving and carpentry professionally. "Go on and look."

Their mate walked tentatively towards the gestured trunk, as if she was afraid it was going to bite her. He and Sam chuckled faintly.

Once at the trunk, Bella dropped down to her knees and opened the lid. Her gasp of awe and delight was enough to give his Beta a shit-eating grin and warm his own heart. She was so open in her feelings and joy that he couldn't help himself but to wallow in it. He would always bask in the light that only she radiated.

He and Sam took seats beside the latest sculpture his brother was working on, their attention mostly on their mate across the room. Sam fingered some of the lines he'd recently carved into the oak, seeing something Embry couldn't. His knack lay in literature, not sculpture or painting like his two elder pack-mates.

"I – I can pick anything?" Bella, he noted, sounded childish and hopeful all at once. He felt as if she had her dainty fist wrapped securely around his heart.

"Yes, Bella." Sam bobbed his head gently, his eyes lighting up as Bella gave them both a heartfelt smile.

"Thank you." She whispered before diving back into the trunk and its contents.

He and Sam talked while Bella marveled over Sam's work. Embry had an idea of what she was seeing. His brother had a reason to be immeasurably proud of his accomplishments. Though he was only twenty-three years old the elder male had made his own fortune since graduating from La Push Tribal School five years prior. He had sculptures throughout several businesses in Seattle and Washington state in general, but he'd also been commissioned to do a piece for Saint Jude's Children's Hospital in New York. While he'd been more than willing to donate his work for free, the benefactors of the Hospital gave him a tidy sum for his hard work.

Embry wasn't sure if it was Sam, Paul, Seth, or him that had earned the most money in their lives so far. It had become something of a game to them to see who could top the other financially.

It _nearly_ irritated him when he thought, fairly sure of his calculations, that Seth Clearwater had surpassed them with his the help of his latest competition.

_Little prick_. He chuckled affectionately

He eased back into the high-backed, hand-carved chair, his legs stretched out before him, as his eyes raked over his mate. He was half-heartedly conversing with his brother, mostly focused on his girl. He wanted nothing more than to sit her on his lap, run his fingers through her hair, and kiss the delicate column of her pale neck as she looked through the trunk. He kept himself back, however, because he knew that she required 'space' from them. He'd allow her that much since he and Seth had hoarded her all day.

It was damned hard for him not to snuggle up with her, though.

He loved her after all.

The smirk he wore grew into an earth-shattering grin at that thought. It had taken a good talking-to by his mother for him to finally get with the program and realize that he loved Isabella Swan…and always had.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Four A.M. that morning…<strong>_

_Embry fingered the slightly yellowed piece of paper in his hands, his gaze intent on the words he knew by heart…had known by heart since he was still a pubescent reject in middle-school. There were others like this one. Some were typed up on the computer through e-mail correspondence or chat while others were written in a slanted, purely feminine scrawl like the one he held in his big hands._

_He'd been anxious about pulling them out of their hiding spot ever since he'd shifted. He trusted himself, but his body was still so new to him. He was afraid that if reached in the black and white Reebok shoebox and tried to pull the sheets of paper out that they'd crumble to dust. Foolish, yes, but still worrisome to him._

_These papers were vital to Embry. They symbolized something, or rather _someone_, that he'd always thought he could never have. Isabella Swan was Fork's Chief's daughter. She was a paleface. She was younger than him. She was pure and kind and gentle and beautiful. He was without a doubt infatuated with her the first day he met her._

_Running his index finger over her elegant signature at the bottom of the page he recalled the first time he'd seen her. She'd been wearing a pink baby-doll dress her mother had forced her into, but wore a stolen pair of Jacob's elder sisters' old jean pants underneath the short skirt. She'd been trailing after Jake with her hands curled up in the dirtied hem of her dress._

"_Mom's gonna kill me." She'd hushed, her eyes lifting just barely to make contact with his as he approached his friend._

_He'd been lost to her ever since._

_He'd spent as much time as he possibly could at Jake's house. He'd had other crushes of course…what boy just getting over the 'girls are gross' stage didn't?...Bella, though, was special. She'd mattered more to him than just another pretty girl. She was his friend, too. When she'd left he'd been inordinately devastated. His teachers had seemed to have thought that his dog had died, not that his only female friend had been moved away with her mother._

_He didn't like to admit it, but he harbored a bit of animosity towards the now ex-Renée Swan. The woman had always been a bit of a flake even when they were younger and showed less parental care towards Bella than the Chief, but by taking the girl away the elder woman had put herself on his shit-list. With every word Embry had received from Bella since, and subsequently every missed message because she had had to babysit her own mother, Renée had all but removed herself from any good-standing in his mind._

_The woman shouldn't have had children if she couldn't even take care of herself!_

"_Embry?" The softly-spoken voice drew his attention automatically to the woman that had entered the kitchen behind him._

"_Good morning, mother." Embry rose from his chair to hold it out for the petite woman. She grinned at him brightly and allowed herself to be tucked into the offered seat. As he pushed the chair into the table he chastised her very lightly. "It's still very early, Ma. You could have slept for at least another few hours."_

"_Don't sass me, boy." He ducked his eyes when she threw him a partial glare. No matter how old he got he always felt like a child around his mother. She could scold him better than anyone on Earth…except maybe his mate._

"_Sorry ma'am." He murmured, giving her the crooked grin he knew she adored on him the most. It had gotten him out of trouble countless times before. Everything from shaving the neighbor's cat on a dare to breaking a dish in the kitchen had been overcome by his tilted smile. He knew he'd won when she sighed in defeat._

"_I'm fine, baby." She patted the hand he'd set on her thin shoulder comfortingly. "I woke up a little while ago and couldn't get back to sleep. I thought I might get a head start on Missus Yate's dress since I'm awake."_

_His mother was a seamstress and a sometimes fashion designer. It had been something she'd been passionate about since she was young and had pursued ever since she'd graduated high-school. Embry was supremely honored to know that his mother got to do what she loved day-in and day-out and had kept them both fed and clothed doing it._

_Tiffany Call was an undeniably tiny woman. Standing at only five-foot-four she was like a doll next to him. Many wondered how he could have been born from such a woman even before his Shift and increase in size. Her hair was cut trendily to her shoulders and straightened to perfection. Without the straightener she kept in the bathroom her black, slowly becoming peppered, hair would curl into tight ringlets about her head. He had inherited his cheekbones and brow-line from her as well as her creative genius. She wore a pair of black pajama pants and a grey tank-top covered by her white fuzzy robe with purple polka-dots. He itched to scold her as he would his mate for not putting on socks before walking on the cold wood floors of their home, but he knew he couldn't. Not unless he wanted to find himself tugged around by his ear again._

"_Let me just clean this up for you, okay?" He grabbed onto the shoebox still half-full with letters and began to gently replace the ones he'd removed from it. "Would you like some coffee? I made some when I got home."_

"_Sure. Thank you." She stopped him from taking the letter he'd been holding earlier when she'd entered the room with a restraining hand to his wrist. He could have shaken her off, but he didn't want to do that. She deserved much more respect than that._

"_Hmm," she hummed meditatively, her eyes reading through the letter languidly. Embry flushed, his skin darkening with embarrassment, as he gathered the rest of the letters before she could snatch at them, too._

"_It's nothing, Ma." He assured her._

"_What's nothing, dear?" She volleyed, her gaze still fixed on the letter._

"_The letters. I was just…I…"_

"_You love this girl." She inserted with a beaming smile. Her pale brown eyes landed on his nearly black ones and he saw the thrill brimming in them. She was beyond ecstatic. He was dumbfounded._

"_It's just a crush," he whispered, hating the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. Bella deserved more than that. She deserved all he had and while he knew that he wanted her, that she was his destined mate, he still only harbored his crush for her. It was just a bit stronger now than it had ever been in the past._

_His mother wanted Bella as a daughter-in-law, too. That only added to his shame. Tiffany Call had never had children after him, but had desperately wanted them. She'd wanted a daughter. He knew that she'd looked forward to the day that he'd find a girl to bring home to her…looked forward to that special someone that would be her newest child, though not by blood._

"_Embry, you're a brilliant boy, but sometimes I wonder about you." His brows shot up to his hairline at his mother's words. He scowled at her fiercely, having to push back a peeved growl at her audacity. "Don't give me that look, son. You've loved that girl since the first day you met her."_

"_I do not." Now he just sounded petulant._

"_Close your eyes." One brow dropped fractionally so that she could see the question on his face. She groaned in exasperation. "You give birth to them and raise them from infancy, through those hellish teen years, and all you get in return is a child who thinks he's somehow wiser than you are…I didn't sign up for this."_

_Embry bit his lip hard to prevent himself from smirking at his mother's rant. She had them often. A few people on the Rez thought his mother was a tad unstable, but it just added to her charm in his not-so-humble opinion._

I could be biased, though_, he thought cheerily. _She is my mother after all_._

"_Do this for me, Embry." Her plaintive cry defeated him. It always would. She and Bella were the only two women in his life that he gave two-sniffs about. He closed his eyes. "I want you to think back to all the times you went to go see Bella when you both were little. Think about all these letter that you have here."_

_He did. A kind of contentment washed over him as he heard her laugh in his mind. Her smile played back to him on an endless loop. He remembered playing 'Catch the Squealer' with Quil and her, laughing his own ass off as tears cascaded down her cheeks from their merciless tickling. He recalled the few times she'd cried after falling and hurting herself or cuddling with someone supportively as they wallowed in their misery. Everything about her drew him in. She was his Northern Pole…he would forever be pointed in her direction and moving towards her._

"_Now think about some of the girls back in school you dated. Do you remember them?"_

_His nose scrunched up distastefully as he pictured some of the females he'd had in and out of his bed. Many of them he'd picked because they resembled Bella to some degree while others he'd chosen because they were her exact opposite. None of them ever held a candle to his mate. They were all selfish bitches or smelled wrong or had too many bad habits or…_

No one's Bella_. Some deeper, more knowledgeable part of himself informed him sagely. He didn't need to go through the long, _long_ list of things that went wrong with any of his past women. The only response that would make complete sense to why he'd gotten rid of any of them was that they were not Bella and thus they were unacceptable._

_They were defective._

"_Imagine Bella died." At those words his eyes snapped wide open and he gaped at him mother in horror. Her face was stiff…unreadable. She bobbed her head once decisively. "You heard me…imagine that Bella died. Better yet, I want you to imagine that she was never born. That you'd never met her. _Really_ think about it, Embry."_

_Gulping, he did as he was bid._

…_And nearly buckled to the floor on his knees._

_At first he tried to imagine that years ago, sometime after her mother had spirited her away, that Bella had contracted some horrible disease and passed away. He would have never received any letters from her. He would have never gotten to tell her 'Happy Birthday' every year through the chat room they used. He would never have gotten the few pictures she'd sent him of when she went to Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, or the Alamo in Texas._

_He thought of her being sick and scared in the hospital with the doctors telling her that there was nothing they could do…that her case was terminal. He pictured her lying in her bed, deathly pale, sickly thin, with dark circles under her eyes and her all but worthless mother puttering around with a false smile as she attempted…and failed…to take care of her dying child._

_He saw a mahogany casket being lowered into a neatly dug hole, the tombstone behind it freshly carved and scripted with a name he _never_ wished to see in such a way again._

_His shuddered and felt sick, deciding that imagining that Isabella Swan never existed would be a better option than thinking of her as having come into his life and dying just as swiftly as she'd entered it._

_He was wrong._

_His guts churned and his inner wolf bayed mournfully at the chilling image of Bella never being born. While he did not enjoy the idea of Bella dying at least he'd have known her. He'd have seen her smiles and felt the warmth of her hugs. He'd have known the light of her soul. If he'd never seen her and never would have had the chance to experience all that she was he couldn't help but feel that he'd have suffered a fate worse than death._

_Bella was everything. She was everything he was and ever would be. He couldn't bear the thought of a world without her in it._

_His hand flew to his chest dramatically as his heart constricted almost painfully. His head felt as if it had been hit with a sledgehammer. The realization that a world without Bella wasn't worth living had understanding dawning on him._

_Embry felt like King of the Dumbasses._

"_I love her." He whispered hoarsely, his hand clenching over his chest where his heart beat in a loud, steady rhythm. _Hers_. It was _her_ heartbeat._

_Embry knew that he didn't have a crush on Bella. At one point in his life he guessed he probably did. Right there in the beginning, anyway. He'd been too young to understand what love was. He'd thought he was too young. A boy that hadn't even hit his major growth spurt did not fall in love. They didn't know love. They had crushes. They chased after a pretty girl just because they liked her hair or something equally stupid and superficial. With Bella he hadn't wanted any individual trait. He'd just wanted her._

_And it had made all the difference._

_Wolf or no wolf he couldn't stand the thought of being without his female. He'd rather kill himself than to go a single minute without the warmth of her presence. He'd do anything…_anything_ for her._

"_Spirits," he exhaled heavily, falling back into the kitchen counter with delirium._

_After another minute or so he felt himself calm and then the biggest smile he'd ever made in his life split across his face._

"_I love you, Ma," he blurted out quickly. He rushed forward to pick his mother up into his arms, spin her around once while pecking her on the cheek, and then set her back down into her chair just as swiftly. "I have to go. Bye Ma. Please call if you need anything."_

_As soon as he was outside he was running. He maintained his human form, but only because he needed his clothes intact. In moments he was at the cabin and opening the door to his mate's bedroom._

_Without preamble he curled up on the bed with her, she under the shelter of the blankets and he pinning them down upon her with his bulk, and watched her languidly. It was creepy and weird, but she was his and he was hers._

That's all that matters_. Embry bent to kiss her parted lips gently, tenderly. When he pulled back he hunkered down beside her with an arm over her chest and a leg over both of hers. He inhaled the scent of her and purred in utter bliss._

"_I love you, Bella. My mate. My Darling."_

_And he'd make sure she knew that simple, yet vital fact of their lives with every fiber of her being._

Soon.

* * *

><p>Embry lurched to his feet when Bella rose, clutching a necklace tightly to her chest. He couldn't see it all that well since she had it balled tightly up in her tiny fists. He only caught a hint of pink though a gap in her fingers.<p>

"I found something."

"Will you show us?" Sam asked softly, his Beta's body relaxing next to his as he came out of his own trance-like state. They'd both remained tuned into Bella, knowing the instant that she'd moved the slightest inch, but their minds had wandered.

He quite enjoyed where his thoughts had taken him.

"No." She quipped cheerily, glancing around the room quickly before grabbing a cleaned wash rag from a shelf nearby to wrap her trinket in. She was skillful. He hadn't been able to catch any more of what she'd commandeered for herself.

"Be fair, Angel." Sam pouted, his eyes raking over her form. Embry knew what he saw. He delighted in her body just as his brother did. He really couldn't wait to sink himself in her wet, welcoming heat.

His cutoffs tented uncomfortably.

"None of you play fair so why should I?"

"You're not still pouting over this, are you?" He jeered playfully. He crossed his arms in front of him masterfully, purposely flexing the muscles in his arms and torso as he did so. He was rewarded by the darkening of her brown eyes and the tiny gulp that echoed through the room from her slender throat. _Ah, the musky scent of her arousal as well_, he purred inwardly. "It takes more than one of us to get even a faint handle on you, darlin'. You'd have us all steamrolled, otherwise."

"Pft."

Her stomach rumbled and he instantly felt chastised though she hadn't said a word besides her derisive sniff. He hurried towards her, braced a hand on her lower back through the sweater she'd worn the day before, and steered her lovingly to the doorway. At least he'd thought to dress her better before bringing her to his brother's home. "Come on. Let's go get you something to eat. We'll go to the Diner, okay?"

"I'm coming, too." Sam piped up from behind them, snatching up two t-shirts for them to wear. Unfortunately the whole 'no shirts, no shoes, no service' rule still applied to them even as 'Protectors'. The perks of being the idols of La Push only extended so far.

_What a jip_.

"I have to go home soon." Her voice was light and entrancing. He grinned down at her, squeezing his hand on her hip comfortingly.

"After we've gotten something for you to eat, okay?" She nodded a few times before heading her own way toward Sam's vehicle, her hips swaying in an unintentionally seductive way.

_Damn it. I _really_ don't want to take her back to Charlie's tonight_. He refused to think of anything but the cabin, _with them_, as her home. Here was where her home was, not back in Forks with her father. Home was wherever they were.

"We're screwed." Sam told him briskly, his jaw firming when Bella lifted herself up into the passenger seat where she knew they wanted her to be. They'd never make her sit in the back, especially not alone. She would get the best of everything, whether that was in treatment or material possessions.

"It's all up to Jake now." Embry affirmed, counting down the days internally until they could finally lay claim to their mate.

Just as soon as their Prime admitted to loving her as well.

_Fuck…you better hurry, Jake. I don't know how long I can wait_.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hi everyone. Sorry it took so long to update. Something happened in my personal life that was harsh and cruel and I didn't want it to impact my writing in a detrimental way (as I knew it would) so I had to wait until I was in a better frame of mind. I appreciate everyone who expressed worry for me and say thanks for all the reviews.

So, the next chapter will be the Halloween Dance. Does anyone have any guesses on what Bella will be for the party?

I hope y'all will continue to stick around for the rest of the story!

As always, please keep your reviews clean when pointed towards me or other readers.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	19. Chapter 19: The Last Dance

* There are new pics for this chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nineteen: The Last Dance<strong>

Charlie Swan twirled his bottle of Corona over the arm of the sofa, his eyes fixed on the television screen in front of him. It wasn't a game, though, that held his interest. Filmed images of a time when his world had been perfect played back at him mockingly.

_Well, maybe not so perfect_, he added internally as he remembered back to the day his wife had left him.

He took another swig of his beer, relishing in the smooth glide of it down his throat.

As much as he wanted to erase that memory from his mind he couldn't. He'd tried, of course. He'd tried drinking it away…working it away…eating it away. He'd tried everything short of drugs to take that horrid image of his wife putting their baby in her car, telling him she hated this worthless town and needed to _get out_, and then driving off without him out of his head.

He watched as his daughter, three years old at the time, pushed her invisible friend on her swing that had once been tied to a tree in the back yard. She was chatting happily, oblivious to that fact that she was being filmed. His brows drew together when he tried to think if it had been he or Renée that had been holding the camera, but for the life of him he couldn't be sure.

_How sad is that?_ He thought to himself, staring morosely at the screen. _Have I gotten so old that I can't even remember if I filmed my own daughter or not? Has it really been that long?_

It felt like an eternity to him.

How old had she been when Renée had taken her? Nine? Ten? He couldn't remember anymore. Too young to be removed from her father's life, he was certain. She was such a fragile child. She'd been the light of his life. He could still remember holding her in his arms for the first time after she was born in Forks Hospital. She had been his little miracle baby.

He and Renée had been so happy in those days.

He could cheerfully recall coming home from work to eat dinner with his wife and daughter. They'd chatted amicably and animatedly about their days. Then they'd put Bella to bed and retreat to the more intimate pleasantries that came with marriage. On the days he had off they would spend together as a family. They would sometimes go to La Push to enjoy the company of Billy and Sarah. Other days they would just stay in the house and play nonsensical games with their impressionable daughter.

_Where did I go wrong?_

_Where did she?_

He refused to believe that it was _all_ his fault. While, yes, he had worked an awful lot, it was not solely his responsibility for the end of their marriage. There were just as many problems on Renée's side. She was flighty…he'd known that from the moment he'd met her. Foolishly he'd thought his love for her could calm her. He'd thought he could be enough to tame her impetuous nature.

Damned doozy of a mistake that was.

When Renée had taken Bella he'd been gob-smacked. He hadn't believed it at first. Things hadn't been nearly as bad as his wife had made them out to be. He'd been almost positive that she'd have come back to him and they would have worked things out. When she hadn't returned it had broken something inside of him and he'd made an even graver mistake than assuming that Renée would curb herself for him…for them.

He hadn't fought for his own daughter after she was taken out of his life.

He kicked his own ass day-in and day-out now. He'd let his own daughter, his flesh and blood, be waltzed by the hand right out of his life and he hadn't barely made a sneeze about it. He'd let Renée have her, believing that that was what was best. He didn't know a damn thing about raising kids. He didn't know how to be a dad to a growing girl. How would he have those 'talks' with her? Wasn't that something that mothers were supposed to do? He'd stupidly deluded himself into thinking that he couldn't be what his daughter needed.

He wondered now if Bella would have been better off with him.

He hadn't agreed with his now-ex-wife dragging his daughter across the country, flitting from city to city looking for the next big attraction. Renée had a bit of a Raven complex…always being attracted by the next shiny bauble that crossed her path. Bella had been an unfortunate victim of that fancy of hers.

It had struck him soundly to discover that Renée had married an uprising baseball star, closer to being Bella's age than her own. In a way he still loved the woman, still yearned to have her back in his arms, but he also knew that he'd never get his wish. Even if she did return they'd never be truly happy. Renée wanted the 'freedom' that he couldn't give her. She wanted somebody and something that was not him. She didn't want him.

The only good thing to come from Renée remarrying, in his opinion, was the fact that he got his daughter back.

It had taken so long to clear that rift between them. He hadn't been oblivious. He'd heard the hesitation in her voice when she called him 'dad'. She'd been holding herself back from calling him 'Charlie'. He wasn't her father anymore. He was just the named man that had donated his sperm to her mother.

That hurt him the most.

His daughter hadn't even loved him anymore.

Somewhere, and he wasn't sure where, Bella had stepped over that line back to him. He'd moved himself from 'Charlie' to 'dad' and he would thank God every day for the rest of his life for that. He'd become _someone_ to her again.

And then she'd called him 'daddy'.

He mashed down the urge to cry in sheer bliss and honor.

Bella…she was all he had left in the world. His own parents were long since deceased and he'd never had a lasting love-interest since his ex-wife. Without her…he didn't know what he'd do…

Charlie wanted to give everything he possibly could to his daughter. She deserved the absolute best of whatever life could give her. His job didn't pay much, but he was more than willing to destitute himself to give Bella a future, one that was worthy of her. He would support her no matter what. She deserved every ounce of him especially after how he'd neglected her for all those years they'd been apart.

Taking another sip of his beer, he thought on the possibilities that lay before his child. She was smart…brilliant actually. She could easily obtain a scholarship to a school in or out of state, though he'd much prefer her closer to home in case she needed him. She was a beautiful girl, favoring her grandmother more than he or Renée. Helen Swan was an angelic woman, lean in structure, pale-skinned, dark-haired, and undeniably beautiful in her prime. In her advanced years her beauty had faded to glory and wisdom, but one could still see the purity of her soul through her brown eyes. She and Bella could have been twins for how much they looked alike.

He groaned, however, when he thought about those boys.

Charlie Swan was no idiot. He knew what lust looked like shadowed in a man's eyes. Those boys, all seven of them, looked at his daughter like she was something to eat. The father in him demanded retribution for that fact. He wanted to Taser them all so ferociously that their nut-sacs fell off and they could _never_ get their demon-spawn off of his daughter.

A higher part of him, though, saw something stronger and deeper in their gazes when they looked at his daughter. It wasn't just lust they felt for Bella. They hovered over her. Moved towards her and with her. They gave her their full attention whether she was or was not talking. They acted similarly to the way the Cullen boy had, only more intensely.

He thought that, just maybe, those boys loved his daughter.

He worried over the fall-out she was sure to expect from having to turn down six of those boys in favor for just one of the. Friendships couldn't easily be retained after a man's advances were turned down for another.

Something niggled at the back of his mind informing him that he was missing something important in that equation, but he batted it aside. He had enough to worry over without that little demon whispering in his ear.

"I remember that." The faint, slightly husky voice of his daughter drew him from his reverie swiftly. His eyes, still pointed towards the screen though he'd been seeing past it just moments before, zoned in on the recorded image of his daughter smiling up into the lens, her mother putting a Power Rangers Band-Aid on her knee where she'd fallen.

_So I had been the one filming_, he thought absently as he turned in his seat to face his daughter.

His breath caught in his throat, horrified for a moment as he saw his own mother in her youth. He'd seen the black-and-white photos often enough. He'd just thought it, knowing their resemblances, but in truly looking Bella over he fully appraised her and his mother and came to the conclusion that Helen's body had been remade by God to be his daughter.

Tonight, the night of the Halloween Dance, Bella was dressed to impress*. She was wearing a soft, baby pink outfit that stood out with her pale skin. He always wondered how she had managed to retain her fair coloring after so long in Phoenix with her mother. The outfit consisted of a floor-length skirt of sheer pink fabric layered upon itself multiple times. The waist was cut semi-low with beads and symbols dangling from strips of fabric. Her stomach was bared with only a covering resembling a bathing suit top hiding her chest from the world. The top, too, was adorned with beads and symbols that tinkled as she moved back and forth on her two feet. As she moved his eyes trained in on the matching pink slippers, like ballet shoes, on her feet. Half-way up her upper-arms was a strip of fabric that held the pink 'sleeves', which were essentially just slit and hanging pieces of fabric that touched down to her wrists when they were lowered. She had her mouth covered by a sheer pink veil, her hair tied up in an intricate style that made him think of Jeannie from '_I Dream of Jeannie_'.

While the costume looked like something that would have been shelved a long way away from a dime-store it was the necklace that dangled just below the hallow of her throat that had him stuttering*. He didn't know how she had gotten her hands on something like that!

The necklace was as pale as her dress, but consisted of many, _many_ pink stones imbedded into a silvery metal. One massive stone, cut like a teardrop, dangled from a seemingly insignificant loop at the base of the decorated, linked chain. He wasn't sure that the link could keep that jewel fixed to the rest of the necklace much longer. It was too dainty, he was sure.

While he was amazed by the transformation in his daughter, awed by how lovely she was, and stunned by her likeness to her ancestor, the father in him demanded that he not allow her to leave the house wearing such a revealing outfit. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to banish her to her room, order her to put on a pair of her most modest sweats, and ground her until the end of the century.

_I'll take 'ways to make your child hate your guts' for a hundred, Alex_.

"You do?" He asked instead, distracting her while he beat back the parental instincts that had made a comeback since she was so much younger.

"Yeah." Bella tilted her head slightly, her eyes looking past him to the television. "I'd been trying to do a pirouette and you'd told me and mom that we were going to go see Billy and the others later. You shocked me and I fell. When I was about to cry you promised to buy me ice-cream on the way home."

_Ah, so that's why she was smiling._

"So, you're, uhm, going out in that?" He couldn't color the words to anything prettier. He knew she heard the awkwardness and distaste in his voice as clearly as she'd heard the words themselves.

She rolled her eyes heavenward.

"I'm going to a costume party, dad. This," she gestured with both hands dramatically, "is my costume. Believe me when I say that I could have done a _lot_ worse."

He flinched, not liking the idea of his child going out in such a revealing outfit. If there were indeed worse out there, and he knew there were, he didn't even want to imagine the number of hormonal teenagers his Deputies would be releasing from the jail the next morning because he'd locked them up for looking at Bella in an unwholesome way.

Sometimes it sucked being a father.

"I'm going to get something to eat before I go, okay? I doubt there's going to be much in the way of food there." Bella moved into the kitchen and he watched her go warily. He knew that he needed to let her go and be a kid while she had the chance, but he really didn't like the idea of her being outside of the house looking as she did or being near alcohol.

_Once again, I know I'm not stupid. At least one bowl of punch is gonna be spiked and there's bound to be plenty of idiots loading down their pickups with beer cans. I know this is a part of most kids' lives at some point or another, but I _really_ don't want my daughter to be around that filth_.

_Well_, he amended internally_, at least she's mature enough to know what's going to be at these parties and not imbibe on them_.

He stood from the sofa and followed her into the kitchen. He thought he might have a talk with her and while he was at it he _might_ be able to talk her out of going to the party dressed as she was. It was a slim chance, but he had to try. It was in the parental code, and more specifically the fatherly one, to talk your child down from wearing something bordering on inappropriate.

As a failsafe he did a quick scan of the room to catalogue where everything that was not bolted down was so he could better duck out of the way if she decided to throw something at him. A clone of her grandmother she may be, but his mother was a whirlwind that didn't take anyone's lip…he shuddered to think that his daughter was the same.

_Huh_, he chuckled with a smirk, _maybe those boys will be good for her. She can't get her way all the time with any of them_.

He wouldn't think about that, though. That was pulling into the dangerous territory of him agreeing to relinquish ownership of his pride and joy to a boy, or boys in this case, that wanted her for more than just friendship.

"What are you going to eat, Bells?" Charlie questioned, sitting down at the small table they had where he'd be out of her way. He'd been threatened with the spatula and a whisk before. He needed no further incentive to keep out of her space while she was cooking.

"Just heating up some leftover raviolis." She spooned the stuffed pasta onto a plate before covering them with a paper towel and setting them into the microwave to heat. She eyed him over her shoulder as she replaced the lid on the Tupperware with the rest of their Thursday meal. "What's on your mind, dad?"

…_And my daughter's not stupid, either_.

"Are we okay, Bella?" He rubbed the beer bottle between his palms nervously. "After all that I did, not coming after you two…not fighting for you…are we okay? Have you forgiven me, Bells?"

"Daddy," his head jerked upwards at her soft-spoken word. She was giving him one of those deep looks her mother sometimes adopted when she was caught between wanting to chastise and pity someone. She sighed.

"It wasn't just your fault, dad. It was mom's too. And mine." Her hand lifted as if she was going to rub it through her hair, but thought better of it once she recalled the work she'd put into its appearance. "Mom thought that running away was the best option, which it wasn't, and I thought that if you didn't try to keep me that I shouldn't give a damn about you. I thought that I should just forget I ever had a dad.

"I wish I didn't do that." She released a gusty sigh. "I wish I'd kept coming here during my summers. I wish I'd been smart enough to know that you didn't abandon me. Yeah, you could have fought harder, but we're together now. We can't change the past, dad, but we can keep ourselves from repeating those same stupid mistakes."

The microwave beeped, but Bella ignored it. She stared at him intently. "If you want me, Daddy, I'm not leaving. Mom's happy now. She and I had our time and I'd really like to have what's left of my 'childhood' here in Forks with you. Maybe even longer if I stay local for college."

"Nothing would make me happier, Bells." Charlie extended one arm and Bella dashed into it, hugging him like she was a little girl again. He patted her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

"Grab your plate before it gets cold again." Bella pulled away, kissed his cheek, and proceeded to eat her meal carefully. She made sure to lean over the plate so that if any sauce dripped it would not hit her costume.

…_Which brings me back to the other matter_…

"Where'd you get that costume, Bells?"

"Port Angeles. I was walking with Evy and there was a second-hand store with some weird stuff in it. There were about five different belly dancing outfits there and I picked this one. It was about the same price as any of the costumes at Party Central anyway." After she swallowed she threw him a steely glare. "I am _not_ changing out of this so get that out of your head right now."

He pursed his lips to keep them from running off and getting him into trouble. It didn't matter whether a woman was younger or older, a female's wrath was not something to incur.

_If I get one call about a boy taking advantage of a genie then all bets are off!_ He thought severely, his mind already set on how best to incarcerate a hormonal teenage brat and beating the ever-loving Hell out of him without his Deputies catching him doing it.

He was the Chief…he thought he deserved the opportunity to abuse his position at least once in his life. What better way than in the defense of his only child?

They chatted peacefully between them for several more minutes before the sound of a horn blaring from out front drew their attentions. Bella moved to clean up her plate, but he brushed her hands away and shooed her towards the door.

"You go enjoy the dance, okay?" She beamed up at him and made to leave.

He couldn't help himself from giving one last parting phrase, though.

"Take your pepper spray with you!"

"Daddy!" She snapped.

He laughed.

* * *

><p>Bella laughed joyfully with the other kids as stories were told around a small fire pit out back of the Greenlake House. She held a bottle of water in her hands, one she'd kept a firm hold of all night to make sure it hadn't been spiked or drugged by one of her peers, and cuddled with Issa under a flannel blanket.<p>

It had been several hours already, nearing onto midnight, and she could honestly say that she was having a wonderful time. She'd come to the dance with Issa, who had picked her up in the Compass at her house.

Larissa was dressed as Cleopatra*. She'd fixed her hair so that her braids now hung loosely all around her scalp and were capped by 'gold' beads. They jingled almost as much as her own genie costume did…or harem girl costume depending upon one's point of view. Issa's was pure white on the base and topped by a pinkish-copper sash that rounded her waist. More of that same colorful fabric hung from golden bangles on her dark-skinned arms just above her elbows and wrists. The fabric nearly resembled a cape…or a pashmina. The neckline was cut fairly high, modest, but was decorated by golden beads. Upon her feet she had Trojan sandals, a wise choice for the ensemble. They were mostly hidden by the long skirts of the dress.

The girl looked good.

"You fit that costume so well," she'd said aloud when they arrived, admiring the other girl openly.

"Pft." Issa had waved her free hand dismissively. "I look okay. You on the other hand are going to be fighting the guys off all night. You look incredible. That outfit looks like it was _made_ for you." They both had laughed at the exaggerated wink she was tossed. This giggles only got worse when Bella returned with a two-fingered whistle.

The truth was that Bella liked the necklace the most of her costume. It was what made her outfit what it was. She had no idea what the stones were, some kind of crystal she was sure, but they matched the pink of her harem-girl/genie costume so perfectly it was as if they were designed together. She'd been fingering the biggest, teardrop stone ever since Sam had allowed her to take it the previous weekend. She'd found herself pulling it out of her special hiding spot under the floor, where she knew no robbers could steal it and her other treasures still remained safe, to marvel at it randomly.

She wanted to wear the heavy monstrosity everywhere!

She was by no means a girly-girl. In fact she was about as tomboyish as a girl could get without being a total feminist or possible lesbian. She didn't wear pink. She didn't do 'pretty' or 'frilly'. She owned the jeans and t-shirt look. The necklace she'd found in Sam's trunk, however, made her want to run out to the mall and buy a few skirts and dressy tops to accompany the utterly gorgeous piece of jewelry she'd been gifted.

She didn't want to give the thing back, but knew she would in the end. Sam said it was hers, but he'd made it. It was rightfully his, though he'd never wear it himself.

_Ha ha. Wow, that'd be something to see_. She thought gaily, picturing the buff, entirely alpha male Native sporting a pretty pink necklace around his neck. _Oh no! Better yet, I wanna see a pink collar on him! That'd be priceless!_

Bella shook her head of the thought and let her eyes roam over those that were in attendance. Everyone was decked out. Mike was, surprise surprise, pretending to be Superman for the night. Ben was the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, cape and all. Angela was a fairy, though of what variety Bella was unsure. Not surprisingly Lauren had come as a Princess, Jessica her lady-in-waiting. She tried, as futile as it was, not to snicker at Tyler's Dracula costume. Beside them were countless others. Snow White, the Hulk, He-Man, and so many more.

She quite liked the Freshman dressed up as Steve Urkel, high-waisted pants, suspenders and all!

She and Issa had retreated to the relative safety of the outdoors some time earlier due to their strenuous activities on the dance floor. While Bella knew and understood quite well that she had no rhythm she very much enjoyed making a fool of herself by gyrating her hips alongside Issa's. Some of the songs were a long ways off of 'rocker' songs, so they certainly pulled off playing the village idiots well.

'At least we look good,' Issa had said.

The area was decorated heavily with Halloween paraphernalia. Cobwebs, skull lights, ghosts, witches, and mysterious cackling voices leaking out from hidden speakers. Greenlake House was the town's Dance Hall, usually rented out throughout the spring, summer, and fall for birthdays, reunions, and town meetings. The place had been built beside a nearby lake, Greenlake, before it had been dried out. Bella had found it hard to believe that in a place as wet as Forks, Washington that a lake could 'dry up', but the proof was in the pictures. Now the place was just somewhere pretty to bring everyone together.

The gardens out back were impeccably beautiful almost year-round.

"Bella!" Her attention jerked to Ben, who was by now eyeing her like she'd grown a third eye. Maybe she had? She had to forcefully push the urge to touch her forehead down to the pits of her 'dumb ideas' pile.

"What?" _Oh yeah, real smooth there Bella_.

"You got a story to tell us? That one you told at the beach was pretty cool." The boy's eyes lit up a little behind his porcelain white, half-mask as he draped one cloaked arm over Angela's shoulders where she sat beside him on a bench. "Know any more?"

"A few."

"Tell one, then!" Angela shouted, her enthusiasm having weathered through the night marvelously. Bella suspected that the other girl might have imbibed on a teensy bit of alcohol earlier on. She was thankful that Ben was at least looking after his girlfriend and wasn't lecherous enough to take advantage of her.

"Uhm…let's see." She lifted her bottle to her chin and tapped the top to her lips. She sifted through her mental catalogue of stories, alighting on one that would work well enough for this Halloween. She eased back into her seat with a large smile across her face. Issa seemed to see the light in her eyes and grinned, too, her dark face bright with joy.

"Now, back in 1851 New Mexico had still been a territory and not a state. Fort Union was built roughly ninety miles Northeast of Santa Fe to protect the people from Apache Indian raids. Fort Union strived to make 'society living' a norm despite its primarily militant background. A place where the uncivilized were not welcomed such as it was East of the Missouri River. One could find some of the most beautiful women of the untamed West within the post, high-classed women of regal heir and breeding.

"No woman was more beautiful than Amelia Lacour, a close relative of the Fort's esteemed Captain. She had arrived at the fort early on in the year due to a death in the family leaving her alone, something that simply wasn't done for an unwed maiden in those times. She rejoiced in the attention she received from the soldiers, all looking to marry the stunning beauty as unwed and fair-looking females were hard to come by outside of the post's sturdy walls.

"One man in particular, a Lieutenant Mitchel Harrison, had a burning desire for Amelia. Having been transferred from the East to Fort Union around the same time as young Amelia the man was smitten from first sight. It made no difference to him that the other unwed soldiers vied for her attentions as if she were the rarest flower to be pollenated in the valley. It made no difference that he was a young man, untrained in the ways of women. He knew very little about how to read a woman properly, to tell when she was responding to his advances seriously or thought of him as just a joking, flirty suitor to be brushed aside. He only knew that he desired her for his own and was determined to have her.

"So in the weeks following the Lieutenant took the young woman for strolls around the Fort, speaking to her of many things. All the while Amelia fanned herself, giggling and complaining over the heat and how she longed to return home where her social life could bloom fully. Mitchel hid his heartache over her wish to leave the post, and him, and worked harder still to win the heart of his fair maiden.

"As it happens some days later a messenger arrived, reporting that Apaches were on the offense and raiding Santa Fe. The Captain placed Lieutenant Harrison in charge of the expedition, a troop of soldiers, designed to put down the raiders.

"Knowing he was about to head off to fight, possibly never to return, Mitchel hurried to Amelia's side that same day. He drew her away privately and bent to one knee, humbling himself before his beauty. He said; 'Amelia Lacour, I am in love with you.' To her credit Amelia blushed prettily and looked to her neatly made shoes demurely. 'Oh, Lieutenant Harrison, you shall make me weep.'

"'Do you hold any affection for me, Amelia?' The man asked her, his eyes pleading with her desperately. Amelia fussed with her dress and replied, 'you should not have to ask, Mitchel.' The man, hearing only what he wished to hear, grabbed the woman's hands between his own and smiled. 'Then will you do me the honor of marrying me, Amelia?' he begged wholeheartedly.

"Knowing that this man whom she'd come to know was the handsomest of the soldiers in the fort and advancing within the army as if he was born to succeed, Amelia answered without hesitation. 'Yes. Of course I will marry you, my dear Lieutenant.' Mitchel, however, did pause, and squeezed her fingers gently. 'Should I not return from battle…' but she cut him off saying, 'do not speak such foolishness! If you are not to return I swear that I will not marry another.' Pleased, Mitchel stood to his feet and hugged his to-be-bride close to his chest and kissed her hair. 'Then you will be mine, Amelia. I will return for you and no one else shall have you.'"

"Lieutenant Mitchel and his men departed the next morning. On the third day of their travels the soldiers overtook the band of Apache raiders and found themselves immersed in their own private war. Caught up in the fierce battle Mitchel was separated from his men. When the dust had died down, his men went in search of him, but found no trace of his body. The soldiers returned to the Fort, claiming that their Lieutenant was missing in action."

"It came as little surprise that the once-bride-to-be Amelia Lacour wept little for her missing bridegroom. It was also no shock that when another young man arrived at the post from the East he and the girl were soon declared engaged. The young soldier had the means in which to return her to her precious city life and she would not deny herself especially since the gentleman was equally as handsome as her belated bridegroom had been.

"A wedding was set and orchestrated a short time later. After the ceremony the bride, groom, and guests were brought to the mess hall for the ball. Outside the rain blistered and thunder boomed across the hills. Inside, though, was all gaiety. People danced, drank, and ate to their hearts content and in the center of it was Amelia, fanning herself and giggling over her fine choice in groom.

"Very suddenly, as the band was in full-swing, an unearthly wail shook the post's very walls and the main doors burst open with a wondrous _**clap**_. All heads turned to the opened doorway and saw the horrifying image of a dead-man, clothed in a stained Calvary officer's uniform. Slashed through his forehead was a gaping red mark, begotten by a tomahawk. His eyes were wide and burned with a Hellish fire that caused several women to scream or faint dead-away.

"As everyone looked on the deceased soldier marched with the solidity of a corpse long-since hardened by death and stole the new bride from her husband's arms. Like the rest, Amelia gaped in stunned horror at the man who held her so tightly. She was too terrified to move. The corpse led Amelia to the center of the dance floor and never once moving his haunted, dark gaze from the petrified woman he motioned for the band to commence.

"Controlled as if by magic, a dark, sinister kind of magic, the musicians played. The company played a waltz, one strange and haunting melody that made listeners burst into tears…or for the stronger of stomach to throw their fists over their ears in an attempt to block out the devil's music echoing in the cavernous room. On and on the band played, and the corpse spun the bride…faster and faster. The deceased soldier, one Lieutenant Mitchel Harrison, danced his wayward bride into such a whirlwind that all that could be seen was the pink of her skirts and the blue of his uniform.

"When the music slowed, the people gaped in fear as Amelia fell backwards over the corpse's locked arms, her eyes as wide as his own, but unseeing and grey, her mouth opened on a silent scream. The young Amelia was dead. The Lieutenant looked down upon his woman for a moment before gently laying her own on the floor. He brushed his decaying hand across her brow tenderly before releasing a cry into the air, the same wail they had heard before. On its dying notes the Lieutenant walked out the same doors he'd entered and into the raging storm.

"The next morning men were sent out once more to search the battlegrounds for the Lieutenant's body. There they found him, half-hidden in a trench beside the road, a tomahawk firmly lodge in his forehead, his eyes as open and unseeing as Amelia's had been the night before.

"Lieutenant Mitchel Harrison's body was returned to the Fort and buried beside his belated bride, Amelia Lacour. There are nights now, down in the cemetery by the old fort, that two souls can be found hovering, one dressed in his uniform and the other in a pink wedding dress, his arms wrapped about her waist possessively as he waltzes her unresponsive body to a song that no mortal man can hear."

Bella shook her head a little to clear it as she came out of the story. Her fellow students sat around her, most all of them caught between smiling and gaping. Eventually Tyler laughed loudly, nearly losing his fake vampire teeth in the process.

"That was awesome."

"Where'd you hear that one, Bella?" Angela asked as she cuddled up into Ben.

"Me and my mom were in Santa Fe for a few months and I went out to the Fort once. There was an old lady that lived near there that was visiting and told me the story." She sipped her water casually, leaning into Issa when the other girl rested her braided head on her shoulder.

Issa and her had become fast friends. They shared several classes, including gym so she wasn't forced to suffer alone and without comedic relief for her ineptness, and chatted frequently. She felt as if she'd found a sister in Issa. She was actually closer to Issa than she was Angela, which was remarkable since she had thought of Angela as her only true female friend in years.

"You should write all those stories in a book!" Another student, Donovan she thought his name was, inserted helpfully.

"Nah, I'm more of a reader than a writer." She thought momentarily that Embry would be perfect to tell such stories to, but shook her head of the arrant idea. She wouldn't bring it up. If he wanted to do so using the Folktales and Legends she'd heard throughout her travels with her mother then he could ask her himself. She wouldn't hint at it since it wasn't all that important to her.

"Party-pooper." The boy grumbled, crossing his arm over his gangly chest. He was outfitted as Daniel Boone. Had he had more musculature he might have pulled the Woodsman look off better than he did.

Bella shrugged her free shoulder and stared into the dancing flames for a short while more. She twirled her bottle in her hands, much as her father had before she'd left the house, and allowed her contentment to flow over her very being.

She wished she'd come to live with her father so much sooner than she had.

"Hey B?" Her eyes darted to Issa, who was moving to stand up. "Let's go for a walk. I need to get the circulation back in my legs after sitting out here for so long."

"Oh, sure!" She stood, too, depositing their shared blanket on the bench they'd been using moments before. "You wanna come, Ang?" She knew the other girl didn't by the comfortable way she was now sitting on Ben's lap, but she asked anyway out of politeness.

"No, no. You two go ahead."

"Be careful." Mike intoned, his face serious for a change. "My old man says there's been bear sightings out in the woods recently." She wasn't worried. Not in the slightest. Even if the sightings were actual bears, something she doubted very much, her wolves would protect her. The worst she'd ever see of pain on their watch was a paper-cut or a splinter.

"We'll keep an eye out, Mike," Issa replied, dragging her by the hand towards the fairly worn path into the woods. "He's such a twerp." She mumbled once they were far enough away from the others to not be heard or seen.

"I know." Bella sighed, rubbing at her forehead with the base of her palm. "He just doesn't understand that I don't want him. I've told him 'no' I don't know how many times and he still hasn't gotten the clue! I think I'm going to have to be a real bitch soon and tell him plain and simple to leave me the Hell alone."

"Ooh, you're pissed." Issa sniggered, her braids swinging and chiming as she moved alongside her down the trail. "You said 'bitch' and 'Hell' in the same sentence!"

"Oh be quiet you." She punched the city girl's shoulder mildly. "You'd be bothered too if you had someone as clueless and relentless as Mike chasing after you."

"Puh-lease! I'd have him whooped within a week. He'd give up all on his own." She polished her nails on her dress dramatically, her lids drooped lowly over her eyes as if she were looking down upon someone.

"You're such a diva."

"Am not!"

"So are!" She retorted in her best 'ditzy blonde' voice. They both tittered.

As they walked and chatted easily together they let themselves be drawn further towards Turtle Ridge, a small outcropping of rocks overlooking where the lake had once been. There were picnic tables out there, but usually were utilized only during the summers. Their warmer nights were abnormal for this time of year, but with her stomach and a fair portion of the rest of her body on display Bella was thankful for any of the heat she could get. Nights weren't overly pleasant anymore.

She wanted her coat and now regretted leaving her house without it.

"What's that?" Issa half-whispered, her eyes fixed ahead of them where the tables awaited. They were still mostly hidden by the trees, but could see enough of the clearing and ridge in the light of the full moon to discern that two arguing bodies were present. "Hey, are those your friends from the Reservation?"

She thought they were at first. At their distance she could make out their bulk and height, with the added bonus of the darkly tanned skin, but as they neared she took note of their longer hair and 'boyish' looks. These weren't her men. These males were Collin and Brady.

"Not exactly," she replied, hurrying towards the fuming duo. She didn't know what was going on, but the two looked about ready to throw punches. She couldn't let them do that. They were to be a part of her wolves' pack and they shouldn't be hurting each other. They were family.

"Brady! Collin!" She shouted, jogging towards them, Issa hot on her heels. The two whirled on her, an eerily familiar yellow light seeping into their eyes. Her feet became like cinderblocks at their hostile looks.

"What the fuck do you want?" Collin snarled, his face contorting into a shape that wasn't fully human. Issa retreated behind her back in obvious fear, her dark hands pinching into her elbows as if to pull her away if things turned ugly.

"Well, uhm, what's going on?" She darted a look between the trembling duo. The guys did that, too, when they were upset. Did that mean they were going to phase? Having thrown herself headlong onto this situation she wasn't entirely sure of what they had and hadn't told her about them and their wolfen selves. Apprehension and fear were making her forget. "You're kinda far from the Rez."

"It's a free country." Brady barked, inhuman and malevolent.

_Dear Lord in Heaven! Were my wolves like this, too? Were they this terrifying?_ She was shaking now, too, but not in the same apparent rage the two suffered from. She wanted to piss herself and run, but forced herself to pull her big girl panties on and deal with it. They'd be her family if her wolves had it their way and she didn't want them to do anything they would regret later.

Like killing her or each other.

A howl broke through the woods, long and harsh, one unlike she'd ever heard before. It sounded so feral…_mean_. It startled her enough to jump. Issa whimpered, her head whipping from side to side in search of the wild thing lurking in the woods.

_One of them's here_, she thought with a small trace of relief dusting her quaking body. _One of them's here and he's called the others. We're safe. They can't hurt us. We're safe_.

It became a chant.

_We're safe. We're safe. We're safe!_

"What's up guys?" She gulped at their intense looks. She jerked her head upright and put on an air of supremacy to keep from turning tail and running for the hills. "You really shouldn't be fighting with each other. Nothing's worth the guilt you'll feel later for yelling at each other."

"What the fuck would you know?" Collin roared, rounding on her rapidly. She took an involuntary step backwards into Larissa, who stumbled. The hands on her elbows tightened. The other girl was shaking as much, maybe more than, she was. "Little fucking whore you are! You up to dishing yourself out to me since you're already giving yourself to our so-called 'Protectors'?"

"No self-respect." Brady sneered, his eyes glowing. "Just a filthy cunt selling herself out to our men hoping for a hand-out. Greedy bitch."

"I bet you're not even a good…" Collin started, but Bella had had enough. Her ire burned hotter than theirs. She practically felt the air sizzle around her in her indignant fury.

"That's enough!" Her voice boomed and echoed around them all. She would have been surprised by the power in her command if she wasn't so incensed. "I did nothing to you two and you have no right to throw accusations at me for something you know _nothing_ about. I am _not_ a whore! I'd say it was you two worthless shits that had no self-respect, jumping at the first weak person to cross your paths. Well guess what? I ain't letting you stomp all over me! I'm no one's bitch so you can just grow the fuck up!"

She had a moment of pride as the two's eyes widened with disbelief at her audacity and a smidgen of fear before it was overshadowed by a darker rage. Their shaking increased ten-fold until their bodies blurred with a vague outline. Her stomach plummeted to her slippered feet as snarls tore from their human throats.

"Oh fuck." She muttered just as the shit hit the fan.

Things moved at the speed of light and slowed to a crawl at the same time. What occurred in the span of only a handful of seconds felt as if they stretched on into eternity.

The two boys standing before her emitted guttural howls as their bodies were overtaken by the change. Rapidly their bodies hunched and grew, bones snapping sickeningly around the clearing, until all that was left in their spots were two gigantic wolves. Brady was now a dark, ash-colored wolf while Collin was a deep russet with nearly blackened muzzle, paws, and tail. Their ears were pulled back tight to their skulls, tails straight behind them, hackles raised and teeth bared. Bella knew this look. They were aggressive. Territorial. Predatory.

Murderous.

Issa gasped and whimpered from behind her, a confused sound for sure. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see that Issa had paled so that her skin looked more ashen than chocolate-like. Her attention, still trained mostly on the dangerous duo before her, shifted from something rivaling 'shit-myself-terror' to 'you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me' disbelief as the two's eyes fixated on her friend behind her and they stilled as if they were stupefied.

Their lips dropped down from the horrifying snarl to leave their jaws gaped open while their tails dropped lower in alertness. Their ears shifted forward and she could see them sniffing the air.

Dual purrs erupted in the air.

Thinking that whatever God was out there had a sick sense of humor, Bella stuttered stupidly as three furry forms erupted from the woods around them and took position in front of her and Issa. Front and center was Jacob, Paul and Sam flanking him to either side. Their bulk was far larger than the other two across the clearing. Their stances were as aggressive as the boys' had been and they chorused the same sinister growls and snarls.

Desire trickled through her.

_What the Hell is wrong with me?_

She had no time to think on it, however, because time resumed to normal speed as Issa screamed bloody murder. Bella felt as if her right arm was being torn from its socket as Larissa jerked her roughly in the direction that she was now running.

"Run, Bella!" The city girl shouted, gut-wrenching fright clogging her throat.

"Issa, wait!" Bella ran after the Cleopatra lookalike. Behind her the wolves descended upon each other, barking, snarling, and snapping their jaws at each other viciously. She made herself ignore them to stop her new friend from causing a havoc. She was tearing straight for the previously abandoned dance.

Her soul clenched painfully at leaving her men to the probable threat of their newest packmates.

"Damn it, Issa! Wait! Don't tell them!" Bella put on a burst of speed and tackled the bigger girl to the ground. She kept her arms locked firmly around her friend's upper thighs as she struggled to get free and get away.

"Did you see that? What the fuck was that?"

"Those are my friends, Issa." Bella panted, flinching when the other girl smacked her face in her fear. She hadn't meant it, Bella knew. She was just scared and working on instinct to get away from the perceived danger.

"Friends? Friends? Those are God-damned werewolves, Bella!" She jerked her left side away from Issa's kicking feet to avoid severe injury. The girl had enough power in her adrenalin rush to smash her ribs in!

"They're shapeshifters!" She shouted back, her own hysteria seeping in. Issa ground to a halt at her hollered words. Bella gulped down her spit and tried to continue more calmly than before. It was bad enough to have _one_ of them freaking out. They both needed _her_ to be the calm-headed one. "They're shapeshifters, Issa. It's something in their genes. When there's danger to their tribe they shift…turn into wolves…to protect it. Brady and Collin hadn't shifted until now. It was their first time."

"Why?" The dark female hissed. "Did they see me as a danger to their tribe or something?"

"No!" Bella released Issa shakily, leaning back only far enough to give the other space, but still be able to apprehend her if she tried to run again. "It's vampires. Yes, believe it or not, vampires are real, too. A family of them lived in Forks and triggered the shift in them. It took longer for Brady and Collin to be affected, but they are now. Once the change starts it can't stop. It's like a tire popping."

"You say 'lived'…as in past tense. What happened? Did those things kill the vampires?"

"They're _men_, not _things_, Issa." She chided faintly. She scrubbed her hands over her face tiredly. This was _not_ how she saw her Halloween going. "And no, they didn't kill the vampires. The family moved away. You've heard of them. They were the Cullens."

"What?" Larissa's exclamation was barely a whisper. Bella couldn't read the look on her face. It was too lost in its own effort to lock onto a single expression. "You were _dating_ a vampire? Did you know?"

"Yeah…I knew." She looked to her lap nervously. "I found out after there was an accident at school when I started here. Edward saved me and in doing so showed me his true strength. Jacob, back when he was 'just' human, had told me a Legend of his tribe. The Cold Ones. Vampires. I made the connection. His family was vegetarian. It was kind of a joke between them. They drank the blood of animals, not people, so the guys didn't hunt them down and kill them."

She pulled up the 'sleeve' of her costume show Larissa her scar. "This was from a vampire. One that drank human blood. He smelled me once and wanted me. The Cullens tried to protect me, but I was tricked and hurt very badly. The vampire bit me and Edward had to suck out the venom or else I would have turned into a vampire like him and his family."

"How could you stay with him after that?" She sounded genuinely curious, not necessarily objecting.

"I loved him…or at least I thought I did. You see, they left because of me. On my birthday I was opening one of the presents they got me and I got a paper-cut. Jasper, one of the 'sons' and a fairly new vegetarian, was drawn in by the smell of my blood and attacked. Nothing major happened, but Edward took it as a sign. He left with his family a very short time after. I think your mother was hired on as soon as Carlisle put in for a transfer or his resignation form…whatever he used. It was probably the same day as my birthday that they made the decision to leave. For my safety."

"So how'd the werewolves…"

"Shapeshifters," she corrected blandly. Issa shot her a dirty look.

"How'd the _shapeshifters_ get involved with you? You said Jacob was human when he told you about the vampires." Bella decided to ignore her sarcasm and sneering.

"He was. We grew up together. Him, me, Embry, and Quil. We grew apart to some degree when I left Forks with my mom years ago. When I came back we became friends again. When they shifted, though, communication stopped for a while. Jacob came to me when Charlie called Billy, Jake's dad, when I got sick after Edward left. Jacob brought me back to his house and I met the others. They took care of me and have been with me ever since."

"But _why_?"

Bella sighed deeply, wondering on how to explain this. Her hands fidgeted with her sleeves nervously. She knew she had to do this just right or else Issa would run again, but it was so hard to admit to something that she didn't even want to contemplate on her own. She also wasn't sure how to put everything together that the guys had told her since she'd found out about their 'true nature' so that it wouldn't sound bat-shit-crazy or insensitive.

_Yeah, like this is gonna be easy! Moron_. She scolded herself.

"The Quileute wolves have this thing called an imprint. I guess the best thing to call it that _we'd_ understand is a mate. A soul-mate. It's basically the other half to the wolf's soul. I don't really know how it works, but I do know that it connects the wolf and the man to a woman indefinitely. It doesn't make them love the woman, it just points them in their direction. It's like a compass pointing North. They'll know who deserves their love the most when it comes to it.

"The guys, the ones you met at the beach, they 'imprinted' on me when they first met me after their shifts. I'm their mate."

"Them?" She paled again, though Bella wasn't sure if it was from fear or shock…maybe a mixture of both. "'Them' as in all seven of them?"

"Y-yeah." Her own voice cracked. Tears threatened to well in her eyes. "They're all my friends and I think I'm falling in love with them, but I'm scared. I'm so fucking scared."

As one the girls fell into each other's arms and cried. Bella knew why she was bawling, knew it was because she was afraid of being left alone after their so-called imprint wore off, but she thought that her friend might be crying out of her prior fear and the unknown of a future she'd been subjected to. Their emotions were frayed to Hell.

…But that wasn't all.

"I-Issa," she began shakily, "there's something else." The larger female backed off enough to look her in the eye. Bella found it difficult to hold her piercing green gaze. "I think Brady and Collin imprinted on you."

"Huh?"

_Okay, careful, Bella_. The inner her coached, her hands bouncing up and down slowly, palms facing downward. The inner her had a pensive face screwed on. _Baby steps here. We don't need her passing out on us or screaming and running again_.

"I can't be certain, but the way they looked at you was like how my wolves reacted to me. They smell you first, I think, and then something in them clicks into place. They just seem to know you're their mate. They were mad with rage, Issa, but when they looked at you and sniffed the air they calmed. That's the way they are. If I'm right it'll be you and only that can calm them like that. Especially when they're lost to their wolves."

Silence reigned between them for several minutes while Larissa stared off into space. Bella rubbed her arms, trying to fight off the chill of the air. It was past midnight now and she was freezing her butt off. She wanted her coat and that stupid blanket the guys had wrapped her up in the previous Sunday.

"Do I have a choice?" Issa hushed. Bella frowned.

"I don't know." She said honestly. "I really don't. I fought the guys for a while, but I'm starting to think that it's stupid to do it. I have never felt more cared for…never felt so _loved_…in my entire life. I'm their sole focus. I know they would never hurt me. They do everything they physically and emotionally can to see me happy and safe. I thought at first that it would be better if I didn't let it happen, but I'm fighting against myself now, too. I want them almost as much as they want me."

"You sound like you're in love." Her friend remarked softly. She felt a wan smile lift to corners of her lips.

"Maybe."

"Do you think…do you think they could love me?"

"Why wouldn't they?" She eyed her friend pointedly. "Like I said, when they see you for the first time they _know_ you on some basic level. That animal part of them steers the human part in your direction so that they'll know exactly who is perfect for them. Love's not immediate and sometimes it doesn't even come like a clap of thunder…someone told me before that sometimes 'love comes softly'. If you work at it and let them in it _could_ work."

"What about you?" Issa's hand met her forearm reassuringly. It seemed odd that after taking off like a bat out of Hell it was now _Issa_ comforting _her_. "What's it been like? I mean, if you're right and those guys see me as a mate…_damn that's just weird to say!_...what did you do? Will they act the same as your, uh, men?"

"I haven't really accepted it myself." At the surprised look Bella shrugged defensively. "The guys…they're kind of relentless. If Brady and Collin are the same or similar they're going to hound you, no pun intended. My guys are pains in my ass. They're possessive, dominant, and determined to get what they want. They're also my best friends. They look after me, take care of me, and do everything they possibly can to make me happy. It's intense, having them watching me all the time and knowing what they're capable of, but I'd trust them with my life. I trust them with everything."

They were quiet for a short time more, both contemplating their current situation. Bella stared hard at the ground. Her stomach was rolling and not entirely because of Larissa being let in on the 'secret'. She knew that it stemmed mainly from having to face her biggest fear very soon.

…Admitting whether or not she loved her seven shifters.

_Fuck_, she groaned in exasperation, her chin dropping down into her chest.

"C'mere, Bella." She startled at the husky baritone, her 'eep' drowned out by Issa's hurried ascent to her sandaled feet.

There, standing stoically on the dirt path with the others flanking him, was Jacob. He had a few bruises, already fading to that strange yellow color they got in their final stages, and a couple spots of blood on his right shoulder, but was otherwise unmarred. Her other men were equally still, their bodies acting as a living, heated wall. Off to their right were Brady and Collin, their faces taut with obvious strain and no small amount of pain. They looked far worse than Jacob, though they were healing just as quickly. She took note that they were gazing at Larissa intently, lust and some other emotion blazing in their eyes.

And they were all buck naked.

"Holy damn." Issa murmured, her dark face dropping to an even blacker shade as blood infused her cheeks. Bella knew how she felt. Seeing even _one_ of these males without clothes on was enough to bring a practiced whore to her knees with awe.

"Come here, Bella." Jake repeated, his large paw outstretched to her invitingly. She came to her feet unsteadily, slid by Issa, and straight into Jacob's arms. They locked around her imperviously, his warmth seeping into her chilled frame wonderfully. Another hand petted through th hairs at her nape while two separate hands, how she knew they were different was beyond her, caressed the backs of her fingers where she wrapped them about Jake's thick chest. His hard-packed muscle bunched under her skin subtly, making her earlier moment of desire come trickling back.

_Yeah, there is definitely something wrong with me_.

"Are you okay?" He whispered the question into her scalp, his nose nuzzling her up-do while her own was planted into his naked, smooth chest. All she could see was his russet skin.

"I'm fine," she promised, inhaling him. His scent was like a balm to her. It made her feel so much better to have them near her. To be sheltering her.

Loving her.

Jacob pulled back enough to tip her face up by the chin with the crook of one of his fingers. His eyes zoned in on, most assuredly, the flaming red mark on her face where Larissa had smacked her in her flight for escape. A low-pitched growl rumbled through his chest as he shot the darker girl a menacing look.

"It was an accident." She assured the tall male softly, pulling one of her hands free to cup it along his left cheek. "She got caught up in the moment, okay? She was freaked out and she just reacted. It just stings a little. _I'm fine_." She reiterated at last.

"Do not let it happen again," he ordered on a half-snarl at Issa. Two deafening growls echoed beside them. Jacob actually _barked_ at them, his eyes gleaming bright yellow.

"Stand down, _pups_." The right of his lip curled into a snarl. "You are in enough trouble for insulting your Alpha Female."

"Jake, it's…" she began only to be cut off by a large hand settling gently, yet firmly over her lips. Jacob tossed her a baleful look.

"It's not _fine_, Bella. Next to my brothers and me you are in charge of this pack. These two are going to look to you as much as they do us and I won't have them insulting you the way they did. You have _no_ idea how badly I want to gut them, little one." As serene as he was most of the time around her he now made her shiver with traces of apprehension. His malice wasn't directed at her, but it was something to see her closest friend going from 'it's all good' to 'I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish' in point-three seconds. His finger chucked under her chin tenderly. "So strong you are. My little mate."

He bent at the waist to plant a deliberate, lingering kiss to her lips. She was helpless to stop it. She was lost in his eyes and the wolf she could see prowling in them. Not literally of course, but there was a wildness brimming in him that she didn't see as much as she felt. Now that she _could_ see it she was mesmerized.

She responded to his kiss dazedly, her eyes still open and staring into the hazy brightness of his eyes. His pupils were slits and focused on her. They appeared to glow from the inside-out, like when you captured a cat's eyes on camera. His tongue stroked her lips only momentarily before he pulled away from her face completely.

Then he used his monstrous hands to pivot her around to face the two newest additions to the pack. They bracketed her hips for a long minute to keep her from turning back away from the duo.

The two were glaring in open hostility at the men behind and beside her, but when they turned their eyes down to look at her they immediately looked contrite. They looked about as ragged as she was beginning to feel. Their hair was mussed, their bodies bruised and bloodied, and their eyes showing the tiredness they obviously felt.

Her wolves had told her that phasing in and out of their first shifts was tiring.

As one they took one step towards her before dropping to on knee and baring the right sides of their necks to her. It was a stance of submission she assumed they'd adopted from real wolves. The logical part of her nodded at the sense it made. By showing her their necks they were giving her free reign to maul their weakest, most vulnerable spots if she so chose. It was a method of absolute punishment.

She didn't think she could ever deliver that kind of sentence on anyone.

"We're sorry." Collin rumbled, his tone much deeper than it had been before. He sounded as if he were stuck in a barrel about to go over Niagara Falls now as opposed to his previous, still husky voice. "We were angry and took our desperation out on you."

"Can you forgive us?" Brady, equally deep in voice, pleaded with sincerity. His eyes, before plastered on the ground, met her own fleetingly. His face portrayed genuine sorrow. "What we said was cruel and we'd understand completely if you never forgave us for it."

Lamenting in resignation, Bella motioned with her hands for them to get up. When they did she reached forwards, Jacob's arm following her from where he'd pinned it about her chest after he'd released her hips, and brushed her fingertips across the backs of their meatier fists.

"Believe it or not, I've heard worse." She forced up a wobbly smile. "_I've_ said worse. What kind of person would I be if I couldn't forgive someone for a human failing? Besides, you guys are going to be a family now."

Brady snorted a little while Collin just rolled his eyes at her.

_Idiots. They'll figure it out soon enough_.

"Ahem." They all whirled to face the pseudo-Cleopatra, her foot now tapping irritated on the ground. Bella giggled nervously at the harsh look she was given by her girl-friend.

"Oh, uhm, sorry Issa. Issa, these two are Brady and Collin. Brady, Collin, this is Larissa. Just call her Issa, though."

"Charmed I'm sure." She grumbled snottily, eyeing those two before giving her men the evil-eye. A burning desire, something like a festering wound, bubbled up inside of her that demanded that she make the other girl show her men the respect they deserved and not look at them like they were _just_ animals. She stomped on the urge like it was a match that had caught kindling on fire.

_No more drama for tonight, thank you very much!_

"So, y'all are werewolves?"

"Shapeshifters." Her seven men replied easily, the other two lost in a daze as they gawked unattractively at Issa.

"Whatever." She waved her dark brown hand dismissively. "So what does this mean, anyway? Is there a clause in this whole 'pack orientation' bullshit that says that if I tell anyone you'll have to kill me?"

"No," Seth grinned boldly, almost smug, as he ran one of his hands up her half-bare back. She shivered...and not from the cold. "We won't kill you, but you won't tell anyone, will you Issa? I'm sure your men would have something to say to that since if you told anyone either they or you could be taken away for questioning and examination. Saying there's half-man, half-beasts out there is a pretty big deal to some people."

"She's not going anywhere." Collin grated firmly, his eyes burning on Issa. Bella saw her friend gulp and take a nervous step backwards. The two boys smirked widely.

"And neither are we." Brady confirmed.

The two came towards her friend, oblivious to their undress, and each set a hand on the much smaller girl. Larissa was far from short, but even these two towered over her by nearly a foot. Brady's hand settled on her lower back while Collin's wrapped around her shoulders. Issa's eyes were wide, her mouth gaped, and Bella could almost swear she could see the question marks and exclamation marks popping up from her skull.

"What's say we and you get to know each other, hm?" Brady chuckled a bit. Issa wasn't unaffected by it since she could see her friend wringing her hands in front of her and glimpsed her toes curling and uncurling under the hem of her costume.

She could pull her big-girl panties on, too.

With firm resolve Larissa pulled from their arms and crossed her arms over her ample chest. This only made her breasts thrust forward more and draw the two new wolves into a trance.

_Horny little perverts_, she giggled inwardly. Her city friend was going to have to be on her toes with these two. That was good. Issa's personality was too strong for a 'normal' guy. She needed men who could tame her and be tamed in return.

_Collin and Brady might just be those guys_.

She didn't even notice when she didn't flinch from the idea of multiple men belonging to one woman when it wasn't in relation to her.

"I don't think so. I'm going back to the party. You two can just skedaddle." She fluttered her hands in front of her with panache. Her eyes fixed anywhere but at their groins. Bella was finding doing so just as difficult.

The inner her was still pointing dumbly through her windows that she called eyes and repeating '_those are big_' over and over again.

Big help she was.

_Little slut_.

"But, baby?" Collin trailed after her with a cocky stride, his smirk all but visible even from behind. "We thought you liked us."

"Get away from me you furry freaks!" Issa shouted, fast-walking back towards the party. She stopped only long enough to toss over her shoulder; "we will talk later, Bella. Make no mistake about that! Gah! Put those things away already!"

With that Issa disappeared, the pups following like ducklings behind her. Bella bit down on her lips to keep her laughter from bubbling out of her like a geyser.

"Will she be okay?" She asked instead.

"They'll walk her back to the party to make sure she's safe. They'll probably guard the perimeter until she goes home, follow her there, and then we'll get to training them tonight. They got a huge dose of it when we were all shifted together already." Sam reassured her as he came to stand directly in front of her. Still naked. _It's so big!_ Slapping the slut out of her haze wasn't working so she just let her be for the moment. "Do me a favor, babygirl, and don't taunt any more shifters when they're riled up. You'll put us in an early grave."

Which reminded her…

"Are you okay?" She spun in Jacob's hold to look him over. All that was left of his fight, however severe or intense it had been, was the spots of blood decorating his chiseled shoulder. She rubbed a finger over one of the dried speckles and it flaked off. At least it wasn't fresh otherwise she knew she'd have been sick to her stomach over it.

"I'm good, little one." His bigger hand cupper her sore cheek lovingly. She flinched uncontrollably, but then moaned into the blissful warmth of his hand. His eyes flickered between their near-black to that sinful yellow. "You look beautiful, honey."

"Damned sexy if you ask me." Paul purred from nearby. She felt his gaze rake over her scantily clad form. She was beginning to think that her chosen costume wasn't such a bright idea with these seven males after her.

They licked at her heels when she was wearing sweats with vomit in her hair let alone something she was so unaccustomed to wearing.

"That necklace looks great on your neck, darlin'." Embry rumbled in his gravely voice. She was losing control of her body. It wanted to succumb to her rising lust as the inner her gained more coherency and their scents surrounded her. Her consciousness was beginning to move on from '_that's big_' to '_I want_'.

Embry's fingers scraped across the column of her neck and she felt her knees buckle. Jake's arm, still supporting her, caught her weakening body. In a daze she could see them all giving her heated looks, acting and looking like she was the main course _and_ dessert at a royal banquet. Their touches, though, were casual and seemingly detached. Their smiles indulgent at best.

_Teasing jerk-offs_.

And they _were_ teasing her.

Still she was dissolving into a hot mess with all of her cooled skin bared to their roaming, furnace-hot hands.

_So nice_.

"Pretty mate." Jared cooed, his hand massaging down her back, lingering for only a second or so. His hands were replaced by others as soon as they were gone. "Did you wear this for us? I don't think I like the idea of you parading around in front of other males looking like a cool drink of water."

"I'd say she's more like a few shots of whiskey." Paul grumble, pushing everyone aside to pull her back up against his front. He hoisted her so that her feet hung high off the ground with her neck presented to his hungry mouth. Her drooped eyes zoomed in in Jacob's lustful face, her heart beating a heavy tattoo in her chest.

_God damn it! I'm so horny_. The she-devil inside of her had taken up a little chant, calling on the Gods of Lust and Passion and all other hormonal giants to bring her what she desired. She wanted so badly to shush that voice up, but their touches and smells were overwhelming her.

Lord have mercy on her.

She wanted this!

His breathe whispered across her ear. "Hmm. Will you be our little harem girl? If you will we won't even be your Masters. You can be our Mistress and we'll bow at your feet…and other more intimate places. Give us an order, my Mistress. We are yours to command."

"I – ah…" She had officially gone brain-dead. Their scents were coming in stronger and her senses were slipping completely out of her fingers. She could only feel…and she only wanted to feel. Thinking just left her a needy mess.

"Give her to me." Jacob ordered, his blazing gaze intent on her. Paul handed her over as easily as if she were a doll. She could have been for all the control she had over herself. They were pulling her strings now.

The Prime's large paws cupped her derriere as her legs clenched around his waist instinctively when her front touched his. She was lucky her skirt billowed so much and was not restrictive. Paul's hands rose from her waist to her wrists to make them curl around the other man's shoulders and thick neck. Those hot hands departed only once he'd caressed her spine one last time.

Jake moved them forward, the others being left behind with longing overshadowing their too handsome faces. The leer in their lidded eyes had her unconsciously rubbing her mound into Jake's stomach. He stopped that with a sharp swat to her ass.

"Ow!" She hollered, forcefully yanked from her lust-filled delusions. Her hand smacked his shoulder in retaliation, but it was apparent that the giant was not affected in the slightest. His stride continued on unfaltering. "What was that for?" She smarted, rubbing at her butt-cheek with her left hand.

"You weren't on planet Earth anymore, honey. I had to bring you back before you hurt yourself." His eyes waggled suggestively and she frowned. He turned abruptly serious, but still affectionate. "I'm taking you back to your dance. You deserve a bit of calm after what just happened."

"Brady and Collin did imprint on Issa, didn't they?"

"They did."

She rested her head on his shoulder as he swayed her in his arms. It was a purposeful move. She knew from experience that any one of them could carry her without her feeling even a single step. The rocking eased something in her, though, as if she were a fussy baby. She wasn't, of course, but at times she felt like it.

"Are they…are they _okay_ with that?" Jake's steps halted momentarily as she glanced up at him through her lashes. "They…people tend to tell the truth when they're angry. It's just like when they're drunk. Their inhibitions slip away. They think I'm a cheap slut and I really don't want them to think that about Issa."

"They could never think that about Larissa, honey." One of the hands he'd been using to cup her bottom slid up her back to cradle the nape of her neck. His thumb and other fingers lightly stroked the pulse points in her throat. "They shouldn't have said that to you." He ground out between clenched teeth, his tone and words ominous, but his touch feather-light.

She shrugged a little into his warm body. "It's not just them, Jake. What you guys are asking of me is not normal for regular society. In this world it's one man to one woman. Ménage or multiple partners or whatever the heck it is is _not_ welcomed by 'civilized' people. Man or woman, if they choose to be with multiple people, will be considered a whore or a tramp."

"You're not a whore." He barked, his eyes flashing again. His hands flexed over her skin, but not painfully.

"I know I'm not." _Kind of_. "I'd like to think that I'm a loyal person and committed, but the rest of the world isn't going to see it that way. It's usually worse in small towns where the rumor-mills are pumping at full force. None of us are going to have the best of luck in 'polite' company if we pursue this, Jake. You have to know that."

"Bella," the man sighed, his breath fanning over her forehead sweetly. "I'm not going to say that I don't care what people have to say about us because I do, but not for the reasons you think. I care what they think about _us_ because it directly involves what they think about _you_. My brothers and I know what kind of woman you are and how endless your purity is. It more than just angers us when someone puts you down or thinks so lowly of you when you are so much better than they all are. You are as close to perfect as anyone on this Earth could possibly be, Bella, and I mean that."

His nose nuzzled into her temple. "Still, the biggest part of me says 'fuck them all' because the only person that matters in this world to me the most is _you_. I can't let you go, Bella. None of us can. You belong to us as much as we belong to you. You're the reason we even exist. Please, _please_ Bella, don't shut us out because of what other bastards say. We'll do everything we possibly can to make you happy…if you'll let us."

She remained silent as Jacob continued to walk, his gait deliberately slow. She was fine with that. She liked being in any one of their arms as much as they enjoyed having her there. Besides giving her time to think he was warm and keeping the night air at bay. He was also thrumming deep in his chest making that delightful purring sound. It relaxed her into a pliable mess.

By the time they'd reached the Greenlake House she'd lulled off into a light doze, her mind working sluggishly. Jake returned her to her feet carefully in a thick crops of trees just outside of viewing-range of the back gardens. There were still fires going, but music was now playing through the outdoor speakers. Couples were dancing slowly around the neatly decorated patio area to '_I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing_' by Aerosmith.

She nabbed his hand when he pecked her cheek and tried to move away from her. He stared down at her quizzically. She tried not to let his nudity put her off.

…Or turn her on.

"Will you dance with me? Just one dance?" His smile was something created by the Gods. She was literally struck speechless by it for a short span of time. He took her in as if she were his beloved wife and had just told him he was about to be a father for the first time…not simply asking him to dance with her.

When she'd finally regained her cognizance she blushed hotly and the chuckled in an effort to diffuse his ardor. "I might step on your toes a few dozen times and you'll be limping all the way back to the Rez, though. Just thought I should warn you should you choose to accept this dangerous mission."

"Oh, I accept all right." He spun her up into her arms before planting her smaller feet onto his in a manner reminiscent of when Edward had done in not so long ago. She shook her head free of the comparison. It wasn't much of one anyway. Edward had held her as if he were a suitor from the 'old country' when intendeds had to have a 'guard' to maintain propriety. Jacob didn't. Her man held her as if she was his and he wasn't ever intending to let her feet touch the ground again.

She was actually quite all right with that.

The song switched over and she cuddled into his chest, her arm wrapped firmly about his waist. Jake rocked them back and forth on his feet, easily keeping rhythm with the beat to the music. She hummed along with it, unable to contain herself.

Celine Dion was her idol and '_My Heart Will Go On_' was one of her most favorite songs in the world.

"I'll try, Jake." She whispered. "I promised I'd try and I intend to keep my promise. I really don't know how this can work out, but I care too much about you guys to just let it go without seeing what could happen."

"That's all we ask, little one."

He bent forward to set their foreheads together intimately. Her eyes plummeted into his onyx ones and her breath caught in her throat.

"My mate." He murmured against her lips before kissing them languidly. His nose nudged hers when he pulled away. His smile undid her again.

"I love you."

_Say what?_

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hiya all! Thank you all for the reviews and the support after my time away. It means a lot to get the words of sympathy and well-wishes. This chapter I may go back into very soon to edit a few chapters, but right now I'm excited for the next chapters and hope y'all will be just as happy in the next few! And please, don't kill me for the seeming-cliffy.

Also, the story Bella told is also another ghost-story/legend taken from real-life stories passed on (in this case from Santa Fe). The story she tells is NOT my story.

As always, please review at your leisure and keep your language clean towards each other. Check out the pics for this chapter! Hopefully I'll hear from y'all soon!

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	20. Chapter 20: Thirty Mississippi

**Chapter Twenty: Thirty Mississippi**

"Men are morons." Bella grumbled around a mouthful of french-fries. Evy stared at her in amusement and some sympathy.

"Yeah, they are." One of her narrow shoulders shrugged inelegantly. "I live with three of them, remember? They are _forever_ doing stupid stuff."

"But they're so stupid!" Bella cried indignantly, her free hand fisted on the picnic table they were seated at. They were out on the Harbor instead of at their usual diner because Orca's had been spotted recently swimming through and Bella and Evy wanted to see if they'd be lucky enough to catch sight of some. Evy had only moved to the area recently and Bella hadn't been close enough to the water to see any whales unless she spent her summers in La Push. That was so long ago, though, that she couldn't easily remember seeing the 'big fishies'.

"I said I'd try being with him and what does he do? He dives headfirst into the shallow end of the pool by saying 'I love you'!" She tossed a fry disgruntledly back into the basket they shared between them. "I don't know what's _wrong_ with that boy! I basically told him I'm not ready for that and he just has to open his big, fat mouth!"

What she hadn't told her now laughing friend was that the others, the ones she steadfastly told Evy were _just_ her friends, had been standing in a half-circle around she and Jake while they danced. Her wide eyes had landed on Jake first and then to the boys who had snuck up on her while she'd been lost in Jacob's swaying, before she'd gulped.

"I love you, Bella." He'd told her again, his eyes glowing with both possession and endearment. It made her hands shake where they contacted with his bare back. She steadfastly ignored the swell of his manhood against her revealed stomach. "We all do."

One by one they'd approached her as they had the first day when she was sick at the Black household, proclaimed their love for her, and given her a sealing kiss to the lips as if to solidify their claims physically.

"We'll give you the time you need, little one, but we aren't going to give up on you. We'll do everything we can to make you see that we're meant to be."

With those parting words he'd devoured her lips like a man deprived. It was hot, heavy, and entirely male. He stole all of her senses entirely. His lips had moved against hers, avid and firm, his tongue delving in to rub against hers like a cat marking its territory. His erection, prominent throughout their entire solo dance, had begun to beat softly against her stomach as it twitched its Master's desires. She had thought; _if I can just move him a few inches lower and to the right…_

He'd tasted even better than he had all the times before.

It had been over all too soon for her. He'd pulled away achingly slow, snuck a pitifully chaste kiss to the tip of her nose, and then turned her around in the direction of Greenlake House. He'd patted her rump gently, but firmly, and urged her out of the crops of trees. She hadn't even been aware of her trance-like state until she was well within sight of her fellow students and couldn't in good conscience wring their necks for making her so drugged and horny.

Her thighs were exceptionally sticky for the rest of the night thanks to those assholes. Being horny and unfulfilled really was making her an ornery bitch.

The rest of her weekend and week had only gone downhill since then.

Issa had been inconsolable and uncontrollable that weekend because the two dunces, better known as Collin and Brady, had taken to appearing randomly in Issa's regular life to 'torment' her. They hit on her unendingly, brought her flowers and chocolates twice, and asked her out on a date with them at least twice a day. Bella found it hilarious. Issa did not.

This was, of course, when the duo weren't being ordered and dragged off by their superiors, _her_ wolves, in order to 'learn the trade' and pay a penance for what they'd said to her the night of their shift. Wolf-induced anger or not the guys would not stand for them having said such horrible, though heartfelt and mostly truthful, things to her. They'd apologized to her repeatedly and profusely since then and she'd kept reassuring them that she didn't hold it against them, but she secretly wondered.

The 'young' duo showed unabashed lust for her new friend, but something else as well. According to her men, whom she spoke to everyday without fail and usually saw at least once, the pups were fighting with themselves on their patrols. They knew what they'd said to her was what most Normals thought, what they'd believed before feeling the draw of their imprint, but after seeing Issa that part of them that objected to their union was beginning to slink away. They wanted to hate each other, much like her men had wanted to hate each other in the beginning, but couldn't. They just wanted Larissa.

Bella had been talking nearly non-stop with Larissa since the dance on what she knew about wolves from her experiences thus far. It was Thursday, her only tutoring session of the week since she'd had to cancel Tuesday's in face of the 'surprise' they'd both gotten that Monday.

Six days since the dance and both she and Issa were about ready to pull their hair out.

Brady and Collin, much to their surprise, had been transferred into their school from the Reservation Tribal School due to curriculum choices. She'd snorted at that. _Yeah right_, she'd thought_, those dunderhead Alphas are behind this. They just gave me and Issa babysitters for when they aren't immediately available while we're sheltered behind this institution's walls_.

The pups were acting like their babysitters, too. She didn't know how the guys did it, but they'd finagled it just enough so that neither she nor Issa were left alone for a single class. Either one, or both if she and Issa shared the same class, were present and accounted for wherever they happened to be.

Both she and her busty-buddy were damned sick of the hawk-eyed Natives dogging their every step.

"Wanna flip a coin?" Issa had asked at lunch earlier this Thursday, throwing steely glares at the two darker-skinned males occupying their table. "Heads and I get Collin. Tails and you get Brady. Then vice-versa."

"Sure thing." She'd chirped amenably. Forking cafeteria-grade spaghetti into her mouth she'd continued to ask, "Shall we flip a coin to see who brings the shovel and who has to bring the tarps?"

When Tyler had eyed the both of them warily and dared to ask 'why', the two new students unfazed by the hostility and continuing to shove gobs of food into their mouths, Issa had tossed the kid a sinister smile that could have rivaled the psycho-lady Annie Wilkes from 'Misery'.

"Why? Oh, we're just planning out how to murder these two and dispose of the bodies. Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Ty." Pursing her lips in thought, Issa had returned her eyes to Bella. "Do you think pumping them full of adrenalin would work?"

"Nah. Probably just make them worse." That was true enough. With their inner wolf she wondered if their bodies would respond to drugs the same way. Their metabolisms were boosted, so maybe other parts of them were enhanced enough as well to negate a drug's effects.

Shaking her head at the entirely appealing thought of premeditated murder Bella had thought of the revealed personalities of the two pups. Collin was still a bit more intense and serious then Brady, but they were both strict taskmasters when it came down to it. She'd discovered that they were dedicated students, but also took on their new role as Issa's, and her's by way of the 'Alpha pairing', _very_ seriously. They were followed to the bathrooms, guarded relentlessly in gym class from stray 'threats', and got on them if they shrugged on their 'safety' or health. Bella got tattled on several times already for not eating a sufficient amount for lunch.

So, yes, she thought she had a right to seek revenge on the two dopes.

Everything was only made worse by the fact that she was having nightmares and wasn't sleeping properly. She kept seeing Victoria, James's mate, running through the woods or the city, her blood-red eyes searching for something. For an instant in each dream the red-haired vampire would look directly at her, though in her dream she was like an apparition, floating and following silently, but uninvolved otherwise, and smile in a way that promised blood and death.

And pain.

Both Monday and Tuesday she'd been woken up by Seth and Quil respectively because she'd been on the verge of screaming out in her sleep. Each time they'd asked what she had dreamt and if they could help in any way and each time she'd responded that she wanted them to flick her fountain light on before leaving, nothing being said about the dreams.

She was no fool. Her dreams usually marked some eventuality when she actually remembered them. Gandma Swan had called it 'the Knowing'. Having not known the woman long before she'd passed away her mother had told her about 'the old woman's stories'. The Knowing was a trait passed on through the females of the family. It was supposed to be a kind of psychic connection they had with Nature and the Powers That Be. It enabled them to 'see' things that other normal people might not be able to through dreams. It occurred only a scant few times in any of their lives, but when it did it marked a pinnacle moment in the life of the one having the dreams.

_And I used to think it was all a crock_, she thought derisively.

Most of the family, what little there was left of it on either side, thought the females on the Swan side of the family were a little hokey with the voodoo. Bella had thought so, too, until she'd dreamt once of Edward blurring through the woods, much as Victoria had, and then baring down on a mountain lion with gleaming fangs…all before she had found out about the Cullen's vampire roots. He hadn't even saved her from Tyler's van at that point. She should have had no reason to believe that they were anything but human.

The dreams had told her differently.

And now she was seeing the fire-haired demon-spawn on a seemingly endless loop.

Isabella Swan knew for a fact that the bitch was coming back. She didn't know when or how she was coming, but she _was_ coming.

_Now how to tell the guys?_ She wondered, cataloguing and deleting all the possibilities accordingly as they came to mind. They'd think she was nuts if she addressed matters poorly. She snorted a little at that. _Right…they'd think _I_ was nuts. Seven shapeshifters paired as mates to a kind-of-psychic. At this rate I'm going to find out that there really are such things as the Boogeyman or Santa Clause_.

Hmmm.

_Nah! Not even gonna think about it_.

Disgruntled, she shoved her previously tossed fry into her pensive maw. The homemade goodness of them mixed with the added drizzles of barbeque sauce did little to appease her.

"Oh for goodness sakes! Men are dumbasses and women are bitches. Such is the way of life. Get over it." Bella gaped stupidly at her red-haired friend for a good minute before chuckling wryly. She had only barely managed a passing thought of poking each and every freckle on her face to annoy her and piss her off for revenge over the matter-of-fact way she spoke her mind before guilt rode over her. Hard. Evy was as sweet as they came, minus the snark, and Bells couldn't make herself be mad at the other teen.

"Oh, stuff it." She flicked a crunchy, smallish fry at the girl before shoving another three into her mouth. The guys wouldn't have a reason to gripe about her weight if she kept shoveling it in like she was now. She'd be rolling around everywhere because she'd stuffed her normally petite stomach to well beyond capacity.

An image of Violet from 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' ballooned up like a blueberry, being rolled like an oversized beach-ball by a bunch of Oompa-Loompas. It wasn't a pretty or particularly comedic image when related to her.

_But they're so good!_ The inner her whined petulantly, urging her physical self to grab several more vat-fried sticks of greasy wonder.

She denied that voice.

…For a minute.

"Do they not feed you?" Evy laughed outright. Her chest heaved with her mirth as she licked the salt from her fingers before using the napkins they'd brought with them to get the rest of her digits cleaned properly. "You're like a dog with a bone with those fries."

"Except when I'm here with you I don't really 'do' take-out." Reluctantly she closed the makeshift Styrofoam-plate lid on the handful of fries they had left in the basket and put them out of mind. "I'm normally cooking at home and when I'm with the guys they tend to try and cook for me instead of letting me do it, so fast-food isn't really common in my diet. When I do manage to get some I turn into that thing from 'Lord of the Rings' lording over that stupid ring saying 'my precious'."

"Well, at least you aren't ugly like that thing."

Bella scowled at the grinning girl. "Why do I even keep you around?" The words themselves were harsh, but her tone was light and joking to make up for it. Evy giggled a bit.

"Because I am awesome, that's why." She looked back out onto the harbor for a long moment and sighed. "I was hoping to see a whale. I only saw some once, but that was in captivity in Sea World when my parents took me when I was little."

Bella touched her friend's hand when her temperament began its downward spiral. She and Evy had grown as close as she and Issa had over the time she'd been coming out to Port Angeles for studying and the red-headed girl had confided in her. Evy's parents had disowned her when she was sixteen, but had apparently lucked out that the three men she lived with, Daire, Caleb, and Boone, had accepted her into their home or she would have been homeless. The men and Evy moved around as much as she ever had, hence Evy's need to be home-schooled, and Bella had a kind of kinship with her. She understood, to some extent, Evy's sorrow whenever she thought of the parents that no longer wanted her.

"Hey," she began in an effort to lighten the darkened mood, "why don't I ask the guys when the whales usually migrate by down in La Push and we can go out there when that happens? I _know_ we'd have someplace to stay and there's a good chance that we could see something!"

"I'd like that." Evangeline gave her a watery smile. "You're a good friend, Bella. You're actually the first friend I've had since we left my parents in Louisiana."

"You're my friend, too, Evy." She gave her a warm, one-armed hug. "You wanna walk the pier a bit? I have a little while longer before I should get back into my truck and head home."

Evy chuckled, rising with her to her feet. They tossed their leftovers and dirtied napkins into a nearby trash. "I kinda feel bad for you. Chief of Police for a father and seven over-protective best-friends? Ha ha. You're lucky to even get out of the house."

"You have _no_ idea." She bumped hips with the only slightly smaller girl. "You're not so fortunate, either, Miss Dwyer. I hear you yelling at those three over the phone as much as I yell at mine."

"You have _no_ idea." Evy returned in a mimic, her eyes rolling heavenward.

They continued to giggle and chat as they moved up and down the pier. Evy hugged close to her near the centermost part of the pier, well out of range of the turbulent waters. Bella was proud of her newfound friend. Evy couldn't swim and thus was slightly afraid of deeper waters, but she still leashed in her fear, pulled on her big-girl panties, and was brave enough to walk out on the wooden pier.

She envied the other's courage.

The boards creaked a little as they neared a landed boat named '_Serenity's Challenge_'. Evy stiffened for only a moment before hurrying forward and inching even closer to her. Bella moved her hand into the other girl's searching grasp and squeezed faintly. Evy rewarded her with a timid smile.

"We were thinking of moving again." The softly-spoken words made her steps jerky. She pulled Evy to a halt and eyeballed her as if she'd just said that the sky was lilac purple. Evy shrugged negligently. "We've been here for a while now and things just aren't clicking like we hoped they would."

"How aren't things _clicking_?" Her tone was a little squeaky with her rising distress. She didn't want to lose one of her new best friends! She had so little of them to begin with. She cherished everyone in her life that she grew close to and Evy had wiggled into her heart easily.

"We're not welcome here. We're not welcome anywhere once they find out." Evy's eyes were watery again when she turned to her. Bella's heart clenched a little. "You see, I wasn't fully honest with you. Me and the guys, we're, well–"

Evangeline never got to finish what she was about to say because it was at that precise moment that the fairly large boat they had passed only moments before, '_Serenity's Challenge_', rocked like a freight train into the docks they were standing on. The boards, creaking ominously before, cracked like thunder in their ears.

Bella turned in only enough time to see that the boat had been completely pulled through the landing, knocking out several support beams.

Then the world disappeared from beneath them.

Their screams echoed over the harbor.

* * *

><p>Some moments in life you'll never remember. Some of them enter and exit your life so quickly that you don't even have a chance to register that they had happened. Bella knew, though, that there were moments that while quick were sharp and flew straight into the mind and subconscious, never to leave or be forgotten.<p>

She was immersed in one of those moments. Agonizingly slow it happened, but all condensed into a scant thirty seconds.

_**One-Mississippi**_**.**

The planks beneath her feet shuddered only once before dropping out completely beneath her. She felt the wind whip around her body, felt the sting of broken wood splintering into the skin of her legs even through her jeans. Her heart ceased to beat for the fearful second of unplanned flight.

_**Two-Mississippi**_**.**

Her feet hit water. She sunk down like a stone, scarcely able to feel the minute elation at having left her book-bag in her truck before going out to eat through the searing-cold temperature of the choppy waters devouring her. Both she and Evy's screams were cut off into harsh draws of breaths as they were submerged.

_**Three-Mississippi**_**.**

Under the water she was blind. It was darker than a moonless night, bitterly cold, and terrifying. Her heart picked up a rapid tempo in her chest, threatening to burst if she did not remove herself from this madness…the abyss. The waters churned her left and right, forwards and backwards. Her jeans and water-logged shoes threatened to drag her further down into the frozen waters.

_**Four-Mississippi.**_

_**Five-Mississippi**_**.**

Bella allowed what little air in her lungs to guide her, to float her upwards as it did naturally, for that one instant it took to gain her bearings and then kicked like never before. Her arms flailed and she paddled her hands to give her momentum. Agonizing, she felt her lungs burn as she fought for the surface…for air. She'd gotten so little in on her short descent. She needed to get to the surface fast or else her body would knock her out in an attempt to get the air as it so desired. So she swam harder.

_**Six-Mississippi.**_

_**Seven Mississippi**_**.**

On the seventh second she felt the sea-slicked air kiss the skin of her face. She breathed deeply of its replenishing magnificence even as her body continued to catapult several feet into the cool air with her momentum. Her tearing eyes flicked around her frightfully, survival instinct overridden as soon as air was returned to her lungs to look for her friend.

_**Eight-Mississippi**_**.**

She saw a deathly pale hand flutter over the breaking surface only a handful of feet away and deep crimson hair, darkened by the water now to resemble blood. Bella lurched towards what she knew to be her drowning friend, ignorant of her own body and its injuries, and dove under the surface like a trained life-guard. This time her breath of air was far greater.

_**Nine-Mississippi.**_

_**Ten-Mississippi.**_

_**Eleven-Mississippi**_**.**

Her stroking hands contacted clothed flesh. Her fingers curled harshly into the material and she tugged forcefully upwards, dragging Evy's dead-weight towards the surface. Her legs burned from the cuts as well as the strain she was putting in her muscles. Evy, in her panic, tried to grab onto her, but they were both lucky that she had apparently grabbed the girl from behind and out of immediate reach. Otherwise they would both have drowned in Evy's bid for life.

_**Twelve-Mississippi**_**.**

Bella made the surface first. She gasped in air and drew Evy roughly to the same level. Evy's inhale was as violent as hers had been the first time. As she breathed, Bella keeping her head above water forcefully all the while with seemingly her will alone, Bella darted her head from side to side looking for any solid, stable surface to grasp onto. Several feet away was a pylon for the now ruined pier. Thick and welcoming.

"Kick!" She bellowed in a voice she never used, one that demanded obedience in an instant.

_**Thirteen Mississippi**_**.**

She shifted to her side, only her right hand remaining clamped around the scruff of Evy's jacket. Eyes trained on the pylon, steadfastly ignoring the waves breaking in her face, eyes, and mouth, Bella hauled her friend with single-minded purpose towards safety. The pulling grew only slightly easier when Evy began to kick with her, her unpracticed feet at least giving them some added propulsion.

_**Fourteen-Mississippi.**_

_**Fifteen-Mississippi.**_

_**Sixteen-Mississippi.**_

_**Seventeen-Mississippi**_**.**

The fingers of her left hand scraped across stray barnacles attached to the pylon. In another kick she had ahold if the wooden pillar entirely. Straining her muscles she pulled Evy abrasively against the same wood. The girl was sobbing out-loud, gasping for air. Bella pulled her collar severely when she didn't immediately grab the pylon.

"Grab it!" She hollered over the roaring in her own ears.

_**Eighteen-Mississippi**_**.**

Evy latched onto the pylon like a baby to its mother's breast. Bella breathed raggedly. Her muscles revolting unpleasantly from her exertion. Fatigue assailed her, but she didn't let it take over. They weren't out of danger yet. Her eyes trained in on the boat which had caused their misery, looking hopelessly for the culprit to their near-death.

The sight of bright red hair, a pure white smile broken over porcelain skin and designer clothing standing proudly on the lip of the cursed-ship's railing shocked her enough that her grip slipped on the pylon and a rogue wave could drag her down to the depths once more.

This time her gasp of horror and disbelief couldn't be changed in time. She got more water in her lungs than she got air.

She sunk below again.

_**Nineteen Mississippi**_**.**

The water burned like fire as it drizzled down her wind-pipe. Bubbles escaped her nose in frantic bursts as she choked on the water already in her throat. The cold began to seep into her beaten frame even as her lungs blazed and burned for air. Dizziness made it impossible for her to right herself this time. The surface was nowhere in sight.

_**Twenty-Mississippi.**_

_**Twenty-One-Mississippi**_**.**

Victoria's smug, demonic face flashed like a broken record in her mind. She coughed again, this time unable to stop her body from inhaling even more of the water. She wanted to scream, to breathe, but it was impossible. The water was muting her and killing her at once.

_**Twenty-Two-Mississippi.**_

_**Twenty-Three-Mississippi.**_

_**Twenty-Four-Mississippi**_**.**

Even in the blackness, things were growing darker. Her pain was dissipating to make way for numbness. Unconsciousness was coming and with it would come death. Another choke. More water. Bigger burn.

_**Twenty-Five-Mississippi**_**.**

_Oh God! I'm going to die! Oh no. God damn it! I can't even say goodbye!_

_**Twenty-Six Mississippi.**_

_**Twenty-Seven-Mississippi**_**.**

Bella felt her body turn again, this time with her face upwards. She could see the slight brightness of the upper-world high above her, but she was too weak now to swim for it. The water was enflamed in her lungs. She was weighted down. She was on the brink of death and there was not a damned thing she could do about it.

_**Twenty-Eight-Mississippi.**_

_**Twenty-Nine-Mississippi**_**.**

A darkened object rippled and tore through the water directly above her and made like a bullet for her. Even as her eyes closed in her last moments of consciousness she thought it funny that the black-Death would be in such as hurry to get to her now after all she'd been through with the vampires and Shapeshifters. He couldn't even wait for her to tell her men that she loved them, too.

Impatient bastard.

_**Thirty-Mississippi**_**.**

Isabella Swan allowed Death to take her in that fleeting last second, almost relishing in the feeling of his inferno-hot hands on her waist as consciousness…and life…was removed from her in her last gasp for air that was not there.

It took only thirty seconds for Isabella Swan, daughter of Charles and Renee Swan, prior partner to a vampire and current eighteen-year-old mate to seven Shapeshifters, to die.

* * *

><p>"Fuck! Get her breathing, Daire!" The deep, thunderous voice broke through the blackened haze she floated in. Had it been any softer of a voice and she would have been happy to ignore it and remain in the darkness of her mind. It wasn't Death, she was sure, because her body <em>throbbed<em> and in death there was supposed to be no pain.

As it was the voice commanded a certain amount of awareness and regard that not even the impermeable image of pseudo-Death could make her brush off like a fleck of dust on her sleeve, though she wished she could.

"Shut up, Caleb!" An equally timbre voice shot back. This one was accompanied by a jolt of hard and heavy pain in her back.

"Don't touch the phone, Boone." The first voice, Caleb, ordered sternly. "Fuck. Fuck. We can't let them go rogue. Shit! _What_ were you thinking, Evy?"

"Don't let her die!" A feminine voice cried; the voice wracked with sobs of epic proportions. "Oh God! Save her, Daire!"

"I'm trying!" Daire, she assumed, snapped.

Pain bloomed again.

This time with the pain came a breath, one choked off by something burning in her throat. Bella felt herself turning her face automatically so that she could puke. Acid and water rushed from her mouth in great waves as she tried to simultaneously get a better breath of air. She hacked and coughed worse than a chain smoker, but after several minutes she was able to breathe again…albeit raspily.

A large hand patted and rubbed at her back in soothing circles. A female, Evangeline, cried and hiccupped nearby. Her phone was ringing incessantly somewhere close. It had been in her pocket, but now sounded a greater distance away than her back pocket. Who had grabbed it? How had it survived the water?

"Boone, give her the phone. Quick." Feet pounded rapidly all around her, or maybe that was just her ears ringing with horrid echoes, before the lighted screen of her phone was shoved under her nose in a meaty paw a little lighter in color than her wolves.

"Please, Induja, answer your mates. Please." It didn't seem right that a voice with that kind of resonance could be brought to such a lowly level of pleading. He sounded as if the world hung in the balance of her pressing that little green button.

_Well, if it means that much to him_…

"Yeah?" She rasped, uncaring that she was being rude in the wake of her near-death experience. This seemed somehow worse than when James had bitten into her flesh to make her into a vampire like he and his mate.

"Where are you? What happened?" Jake's voice was narrowly consumed with the wolf now. She could barely understand his words.

"Water," she explained without further detail. She didn't have the breath yet to elaborate.

"Where are you? We are coming to get you."

"Fine." She coughed, her throat feeling as if it had been subjected to the ultimate torture of swallowing glass shavings. "I'm coming." She didn't know how, but she was going to get to them. She was going home, to _their_ home, and she was going to snuggle so close to all of them that anyone would think she was a leech, no pun intended.

"_Where are you?_" He snarled, lost to his instincts to be with her, to save her and shield her from all harm. She had to bring him back. She needed him sane and calm when she got there. She couldn't have him breaking down on her when she was so close to hysterics herself.

"Jake, please," she choked on her own words before forcing more out, "wait for me. Be there. Be with me."

There was a long pause, though no silence. She could hear the others in the background on the other end growling, snarling, and pacing. There were a few words, but all of them were too jumbled or distorted for her to understand their meaning. On her end she could hear that Evy had dissolved to sniffles and the man that had been rubbing her back earlier continued to do so now. She was faintly aware of tingling pain everywhere he touched, not severe, but enough to make her wince. The rest of her throbbed with that new pain.

"Come now." He ordered desperately, his command dulled by his need and worry.

"Yes." She agreed, hanging up.

It was only once she let the device drop to the ground that she looked at her surroundings. It was still overcast and the air seemed cooler now, though she would bet that was due to her clothes being soaked through from the sea water. Evy was staring at her with guilty, yet thankful eyes. Her face was splotched red and dirty. She looked every bit as wet and cold as she felt.

It was the three men around them that had her fighting to keep her jaw from unhinging.

One of them men, Native in descent, rocked Evy in his lap. He had mid-brown hair that was shaggier than she was used to. She was used to seeing a crew-cut on her men while this one had hair that tickled the tips of his ears. He stared at her intently even as he rocked, petted, and soothed Evy's much smaller frame. This man was very large, but not as big as her Jacob. He had a long, sharp nose, defined cheekbones, and green eyes. Very attractive.

The other two looked very much like him, much as her wolves looked like each other, but were shorter than he. The one closest to her was the bulkiest in muscle and perhaps the middle-one in height, though that was hard to tell with him kneeling beside her hunched form. His hair was like her men's, cut down to the bare minimum. He and the other man had brown eyes, the bulkier one's darker than the other's. The other man had shoulder-length hair tied back into a low-slung tail. They all had the same shade of skin as the first man and looked to be in their mid-twenties like her own men looked.

The one rubbing her back was dripping wet, but drying fairly quickly opposed to her.

"Who?" She coughed heavily with her face to the ground. Spittle ran from her mouth. Gross, but she had no control over it. She couldn't breathe comfortably.

"Evy's mates." The man beside her informed her simply, his hand stilling upon her. "Are you fit to stand, Induja?"

"Wha's Induja?"

"It means 'daughter of the moon'. It's what the Shifter world calls the few females born with the Mark within them." The man used a large hand to lift her from the ground by her elbow, the other supporting her back. "My name's Daire Boudreaux, Induja. The one over there holding Evy is Caleb Savoie. Boone Cyr is the last. He's the youngest of us."

"Need to go home." She choked unattractively, stumbling when she tried to move in the direction she thought her truck was. They weren't on the pier anymore, thank God. People flanked it in the distance, though, marveling at the destruction.

"We'll take you home, okay?" Daire pulled a halt to her movements. Her head turned sluggishly to see his head jerk Boone's way. "Go get our truck. Caleb, can you grab the Induja's? Are your keys in your pocket?"

"Jacket." With shaking fingers she pulled the set of keys from her zipped jacket pocket and handed them over to Caleb. She was immensely grateful that she'd grabbed her wind-breaker instead of the fur one Paul had given to her that morning seemingly so long ago. The fur would have drowned her for sure and if it hadn't by some miracle she would have lost her keys. The man looked down at her with eyes clouded by both worry and gratitude. He urged Evy to move away from him, closer to her and Daire, before running off after the other male.

"You 'kay?" She asked her new friend softly. Evy hiccupped and darted into her arms, hugging the life out of her. Her already labored breathing rasped more.

"You saved me." The red-head cried, her shoulders shaking with her poorly contained emotions. "You – you could have let me drown. You could have gotten out."

"Shh." Bella rubbed the other girl's back and soaked hair, her weight supported by the strange, big man behind her. She couldn't hold her own weight let alone Evy's, too. "S'okay. Shh."

Bella's legs shook fiercely as she focused all of her will into remaining upright. Shivers raced up and down her frame from the insufferable cold that consumed her. The man behind her, Daire, held her by the waist upwards, his other hand cupping Evy's neck in both support and possessiveness. She felt her lids drooping heavily over her eyes.

She was so tired.

She just wanted to be home with her men.

"Enough, Evy. Not now." Evy was pulled, stumbling, away from her. She was inwardly pleased by the man's carefully controlled voice. It wasn't chastising or harsh, just instructing. "Can you help me get her clothes off? I'll do the same with you before we put you in the truck. These wet clothes will kill you both if we leave them on."

"Daire, no!" Evy gasped.

"No, Evy, it has to be done. If I get punished for this than so-be-it, but she needs to be warmed up or she's going to get very sick. If I put the blanket around her with her wet clothes still on it'll do no good."

There was silence for a long moment in which Bella teetered between sleep and consciousness. Eventually she felt big and small hands working her jacket, sweater, jeans, and sneakers off of her quaking body. The wind licked painfully across her frosted skin. She hissed when the small hands skimmed her back.

"Oh my God! Daire, they're gonna…"

"I _know_, Evy." Daire replied in a patient tone to the distressed female. His big hands sat her down on the ground so that he could remove Evy's clothes himself. "It's better this way. If I hadn't done that she would be dead and we'd have seven rogue Alphas on our hands."

It all clicked slowly in her mind as the other two males, the trucks in-tow, reappeared with blankets in their arms. These three men were massive. They had deliciously hot skin. In the short time she'd been awake they showed strength. The man who'd stayed with them, Daire, had said 'Evy's mates'. They knew about Alphas. These men weren't Normal men. They were Shapeshifters, too.

In the back of her mind a cynical part of her remarked on the fact that only _she_ could she obsess over them being Shapeshifters and not even register the fact that she was all but naked, wearing only her bra and panties, out in public. Sure, almost all attentions were diverted to the demolished pier in the distance, but someone could still see!

"Up you get." Caleb, the one with the shaggy hair that had been rocking Evy earlier, stood her up with one hand and bundled a thick wool blanket around her entire body seamlessly. He then pulled her up into his arms, not a peep out of her mouth, and carried her towards her idling truck.

"Evy?"

"She's coming behind in our truck with Daire and Boone. I'm driving your truck. Don't worry. You're safe now. I'm taking you to your men."

"Thank you." She sighed, her fatigue unparalleled now to anything she'd ever felt before.

Caleb set her down in the passenger seat of her truck, buckling the seatbelt for her. Before closing the door he tossed her soiled clothing, which Daire had brought to them, into the back and set her phone down into her lap. His large hand placed her own shaking one over the cold plastic.

"You may need to call them regularly. Keep this in your hand until we get you home."

"'Kay." She mumbled, tired and sore beyond belief. Caleb closed the door almost softly before rounding the truck, hopping in, and taking off towards La Push. Home.

_Yes, home_. The inner her nodded her head sagely. _Home with our men. Takes a near-death experience to make you see how much you love someone and in this case it's seven someone's_.

She did love them, she realized with faint awe. She didn't always love them, but somewhere down the line she had fallen for each and every one of them. It didn't matter that they could be utter assholes and morons. It didn't matter that they made her want to rip her hair out. They treated her better than anyone ever had in her entire life. They put her first. They all but worshipped her and made her feel special. They cared for and loved her…and she loved them for that. She loved them for _them_. They were different from each other, but she loved them each individually and together.

"How'd you know?" She asked exhaustedly several minutes into the drive. Until that moment she'd been staring blindly in the side-view mirror at the old-ish Chevy Silverado tailing behind them.

"Know what exactly, Induja?"

"Call me Bella, please." She scrubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes. They burned as if she'd washed them with acid. "That I have Shapeshifter mates. How'd you know that?"

"We didn't at first. Evy talks about you all the time and we knew from her that you had a bunch of male 'friends', but until we pulled you both out of the water today we didn't know." He flicked his nose with a finger. "It's in your smell and your aura. Only other Shapeshifters and Supernaturals can smell the difference between an available female and one that belongs to a Supe."

"How did you know to come save us?" She queried, her mind roiling a little in the mud on how they could possibly smell the guys on her in such a way. It's not even like they'd had sex.

_I did _not_ just think that_.

"The same way your mates knew you were in danger. It's an instinctual call to our beasts when our mate is in danger. The call only gets stronger once a Shifter fully claims his mate." His green eyes glowed as he looked at her through the corner of his eye. "It will be much stronger for you and your mates once you mate. You are Induja and they are Alphas. Your bond will be _very_ strong."

"Let me guess, you can smell all that, too?" His nod at her narrowly sarcastic words made her lean her head into the headrest of her seat. "This is turning into one Hell of a long day."

Her head was beginning to pound.

A thought blooming in her mind had her scrambling with her phone to call her father. She knew as soon as it started ringing that she probably should have thought of something to tell him besides the full truth, but she figured that she was permitted a lapse in judgment after being pulled back from the brink of her too-soon expiration.

"Forks Police Department." The dispatch/secretary, Maryanne, answered briskly and automaton-like.

"Maryanne? It's Bella." Her voice rasped unattractively over the line.

"Oh, Bella, honey!" The woman instantly sounded motherly and loving. It was a change the middle-aged woman of five with two grand-babies on the way undertook whenever any of her 'babies' called. When she was on the job she was all business, but when any 'child' important to her called she transformed into a doting mess. "Bella, are you okay? You don't sound good."

"Is my dad there, Maryanne? This is important."

"Of course." She heard the phone being set down on the desk followed by harried mumbling too far away to comprehend. Rushed footsteps were the last of it before her father's panting voice was on the other end of the line.

"Bella! Bella, are you okay?"

"There was an accident, Dad." She croaked.

"Oh my God! Bella, what happened?" She could tell that he was about to abandon his duties right then and there to come get her. She shook her head sluggishly even though she knew that he couldn't see it.

"I'm okay, Dad. Me and Evy were walking the pier and it splintered under us." Not the full truth, but close enough. She didn't dare tell him about the psycho, red-headed, vampire woman she saw and therefore revealing the existence of the world outside of the Normal. A half-truth was bad enough. "We fell into the water, but we got out. Some water just got in my throat."

_That's right, Bella. Play it cool_.

"Christ, Bells!" She could all but see him falling backwards into the partially stationary-seat behind the call-desk. "Do you need me to come get you? Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." She repeated, glancing at the man beside her deliberately. He was listening in and made no effort to hide his eavesdropping. She didn't care. "Evy's roommates," she curled her nose now at how she'd phrased that, "are taking me out to Jake's place. They need you at work so I thought the guys could look after me until you're off shift." Again she didn't lie. Not really.

"You're more important to me than my job right now, Bells." Charlie sounded genuinely hurt that she'd even implied, innocent as it was and not purposefully, such a thing.

"I know, Daddy…and you're more important to me than my school or work or just about anything else, but I'm fine. The guys can look after me until you're out of work. Besides, weren't we going to be coming out to La Push for an early weekend anyway so that you could go to the car show in Seattle with Billy, Harry, and Big Quil?"

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing, Dad." She tried to push the sternness through her heated throat. "The guys can look out for me until you come home. They'll take care of me. You _know_ that."

The man sighed. "You're going to kill me one of these days, Bella. You know that, right?"

"I'll be sure to give you a full head of white hair first, Dad." She joked half-heartedly, still well beyond worn-out. Her legs were beginning to pulse painfully now, too. They had hurt before, but now the cuts were more obvious. They were beginning to demand attention.

"Damn it." Her father muttered before she heard him stand to his feet. "I'll call you as soon as my shift's over and I'm heading up there. But please, if anything at all happens or you need me just call. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Thank you." His relieved exclamation made her grin. "I love you, Bells."

"I love you, too, Dad."

Snapping the phone shut, thus disconnecting the call, she grunted to find five new text messages flashing across her screen. She'd programmed her phone to complete silence while she was talking, so she heard them come in.

All of them were from Jake, most likely the only one of them able to think a coherent thought.

All of them were frantically asking where she was and how she was feeling.

"Geeze." She muttered, texting back to the most recent one sent with her trembling, going-numb fingers. She wanted one of them to be holding her like she could see the one called Boone holding Evy in the truck behind them.

"You are very lucky to have your father and your men." Caleb spoke absently, his authoritative voice rumbling deep in his chest just like her men's did.

"I know I am." She whispered once her text was sent.

She drooped back into her seat, curling heavily into her given blanket, and letting her tiredness overcome her if only for a moment.

* * *

><p>What seemed like only minutes later the truck came to a slow halt. The unhurried, yet still jerking stop had her eyelids lifting from their closed state. Her skin felt like a dried husk because of the salt water and her body simply hurt.<p>

"I want them." She whimpered, lost in her own misery.

Whether Caleb intended to respond or not didn't matter in the least because almost as soon as her plea was out of her mouth the sound of metal creaking and crunching reverberated around the cab. Her head turned to find her men standing at her door, Sam's right hand bearing down into the sturdy metal as if it were paper and Seth reaching in to pull her out of the warmed confines of her vehicle.

She gawked dumbly at them all even as Seth snuggled her body into the safety of his heated chest.

It wasn't their furious growling that had her stunned, nor the fact that they were all hovering around her instantly, petting and touching her relentlessly. It wasn't because they were lifting the blanket from her frozen form to survey her for injuries, snarling, and then tucking her back in just as quickly. These were all things she had expected.

It was how they _looked_ that floored her.

They didn't fully look like humans anymore. In fact, they resembled some Americanized version of Egypt's Anubis a great deal. Their bodies, normally massive, were now expanded and enlarged to reveal the wolf normally buried within them. Fur sprouted everywhere matching each of their wolves. Their eyes were blazing yellow, elongated mouths which would have been called muzzles on a 'normal' canine bared down at her and then to the man still sitting in her truck. Their hands had turned into claws, padded like a paw, but long and opposable like a human's hand. Glancing down from her incredible height she could see that the arches of their feet had extended so that their legs almost looked like they were backwards. They were sans-clothing, their penises masked behind the same kind of hood normal canines had when they were not erect. Somehow their forms had mixed into a bizarre physical manifestation of their human and wolf sides.

"This is different." She coughed dazedly, still too out of it to react much.

Paul, she thought because of the silvered fur, caressed her forehead for only a second before darting forward in front of their stopped convoy. He jerked his right hand in a direct manner, signaling for the two trucks to follow him. He took off at a steady jog. Seth, with her still in his arms, leapt into the bed of her truck with Jake right after him. Seth set her into his lap with both he and Jake caressing her body to keep it warm. It was surprisingly warmer than in the cab. The others ran in view behind them.

Apparently they hadn't stopped at the cabin but on the main road into La Push from Port Angeles.

She _really_ hoped no one was out to see them.

As Seth held her in his arms and on his lap she felt contented. The horrid cold was seeping out of her like petals unfurling as Jacob caressed her through the blanket, his and Seth's purrs lulling her into a peace-filled haze. Even when she glanced past him to view her no-longer human-looking men and even farther into the Gob-smacked face of Evy seated between Daire and Boone in the other truck couldn't sap her of her well-deserved ease.

Wiggling a hand from the blanket she used her fingers to lightly tug at the fur on Seth's chest. She thought she saw him smiling at her for the action. It was difficult to tell because of the muzzle.

"You're not stuck like this, are you?" She asked softly over the wind, knowing they'd hear her easily for their Supernatural abilities.

Jake shook his head before shuddering. His maw opened in a silent snarl revealing his vicious white canines. Before her eyes Jake's body shrunk bit by bit until he was back to his _normal_ size. He'd had at least another hundred pounds worth of weight on him in that in-between form with his height and girth combined. His fur receded into his skin, the muzzle disappearing completely. His brows were clenched tightly together with the strain of changing back, but that look vanished from his face instantly when she set her still free fingers against his cheek tenderly.

"Bella." He growled, his voice still sounding guttural and inhuman as his body had been. He bent forward so that he could press his forehead against hers while Seth rocked her gently. Jake's hands, the left resting on her stomach through the blanket and the right curled into the nape of her neck, clenched faintly as he breathed her in.

"We thought we'd lost you." Bella's heart clenched at the desperation in his tone. She didn't think she'd ever heard him so vulnerable since his mother had died all those years ago. A new ache bloomed in her, one that commanded that she hold him until he felt better as he would her. It was a sensation that she was fairly unfamiliar with.

"I'm here." She whispered back, her words choppy due to her recent inhale of water. "I'm not going anywhere. Not now."

"Not ever." He snapped back, his eyes flashing yellow for an instant. His hands tightened further. His stare was consuming. "We love you Bella. You are our mate. That means that you are ours and you are not leaving us. You aren't leaving _me_."

She squeaked as his lips met her own with force. His teeth nipped a little painfully at her lips until she'd opened her mouth to him. His tongue swept in like an avenging angel, swapping her prior taste of salt for his chocolate-mint flavor. He left no part of her mouth unravaged. She groaned both in bliss and discomfort because though this kiss was spectacular in its own way he wasn't being as cautious as he normally was with her. His wolf was out and it was trying to relieve its fear for her physically and quickly.

And she would have been damned if she'd said she didn't like it.

When he pulled away they both were shaking, though she was certain that she was shaking for an entirely different reason than he was. His eyes skipped for a long minute between yellow and black before settling on his regularly dark orbs. His mouth met hers much more softly in apology.

"Please, little one, _please_ don't scare us like that again." Pleading, not even a hint of a command. It was the destitution in his tone that broke her and made the promise slip from her sore throat.

"I promise to do my best to not get hurt again." He didn't look satisfied by her phrasing or the promise itself, but allowed her a reprieve when their entourage came to a gradual halt. The cabin shadowed them all with the sun setting behind it.

Seth stood with her in his arms as soon as the truck had stopped, taller now than Jacob by several inches and wider, and leapt down seamlessly from the truck-bed so that she was no jostled. Jake followed behind them with the others changing back to their human forms. Their pain made her distinctly more uncomfortable. Only Seth remained in his Wolfman form.

"Take the females inside." Jake ordered briskly, his eyes boring into the three new males disembarking from the vehicles. Evy was being carried in Boone's arms. Tears shined in her eyes. "Jared, go with them. Get the first-aid kit and see if you can help them. If anything is worse than it looks you are to call Sue."

"Yes, Alpha." Jared grunted, leading the way into the cabin. Bella peered around Seth's shoulder to see Boone bringing the silently crying Evy with them. Daire and Caleb were left bolding facing her stunningly naked men. They deserved a standing ovation for not acting as if they were standing up against a proverbial firing-squad.

A side-note was jotted down in her mind to work on getting her men to wear more clothes. They were magnificent this way, but dear-Lord-in-Heaven, women-kind couldn't survive for long with _those_ running out in open view!

"They saved us. They saved _me_!" She shouted hastily before she was fully immersed in the cabin. Her word held enough merit with her men that they wouldn't kill the other two Shapeshifters while she was otherwise occupied.

She hoped.

* * *

><p>Jacob waited with his brothers until he heard the door snick shut behind the others as they aided the females, his mate especially. Jared had enough basic training in first-aid to hopefully be able to take care of Bella sufficiently. His years at the lumber yard necessitated his need to know at least a minimal amount of first-aid as it was a dangerous business.<p>

His eyes raked over the two remaining Shifters. He breathed them in not-so-subtly and took note of the added sweetness to their natural musky scent. He assumed that was due to the other female, Evy, being mated to them. He could smell that as clearly as he could smell Larissa on Brady and Collin or Bella on him and his brothers. That meant that he'd have to tread carefully. He wouldn't be the reason that his mate's newest friend lost her men.

That didn't mean that he couldn't take a good swipe at the cur that bruised his mate's back, though.

"What happened?" He commanded harshly, his ears straining to listen into the house as Bella was attended to along with her friend. His muscles strained even more as the audible hiss of pain from his little one swept past her lips.

He was fighting against every instinct he had that demanded he run into the house and coddle his mate…rub his face into her neck and wallow in her presence as much as he could.

"Evy says that they were walking the pier when one of the boats crashed through the wood. The impact caused the pier to drop out and they got dragged under." The one Jake assumed was the Alpha of the trio spoke firmly. His green eyes kept darting behind him to the cabin, just as jittery as he or his brothers were to be with their own mate. "Your mate saved ours. Evy cannot swim. The Induja pulled her to one of the pylons before she sunk under the water for the last time. My brothers and I had been nearby to begin with, but when we felt Evy's terror we ran right to them. Daire pulled Bella out of the water and got her breathing again."

Jacob shuddered down to his core, the horrified and enraged memory of feeling Bella plunging into the water and – _dying_ blasting him full-force once more and urging him to shift over as they had before.

He hadn't been aware of the pain at first as his body morphed between his human side and the new werewolf-like shape he hadn't known he'd had. He hadn't been conscious of his father, whom he'd been having dinner with, yelling for him to calm down. All he'd known was the searing, white-hot pain of his connection to Bella disintegrating. Everything in his world crashed down around him as Bella, removed from his immediate reach, slipped out of his life leaving desolation in its wake.

The desolation was as volatile as his fury.

He could still hear his feral roar of anguish in his mind, echoed by his brothers elsewhere on the Rez, when for those few seconds Bella had actually _died_. Her heart had stopped and with it his sanity had snapped.

Several walls in La Push now had to be replaced because of the inherit need to shift when they were rocked by the loss of the mate they hadn't been honored enough to claim yet…the loss of their soul's mate.

"You left the marks on my mate?" He snarled, still lost in his roiling emotions from before. He didn't think there would be a day in his life that he wouldn't remember it.

"I did." The one with cropped hair bobbed his head once solidly. "My name is Daire. I had to get the water from your mate's lungs. I tried to not mark her skin, but I was unable to. For that I'm sorry."

Paul growled nearby before pacing a few steps. He was clearly stressed. They all were. "It wasn't something you could avoid." He snapped, just as consumed by his own wolf as Jake was. "Thank you. For saving Bella's life. I still reserve the right to bust your god-damned nose in, though. She didn't need bruises on top of all those fucking cuts on her poor legs."

"That is your right." The alpha nodded his head in stiff ascent. "I'm Caleb. We owe the Induja a debt. She saved our mate at the risk of her own life."

He and his brothers emitted rumbling growls, unable to contain themselves. Jacob bloomed with pride at Bella's selfless acts and her ability to recover and react like a trained soldier, but it pissed him the Hell off that she put herself in that situation in the first place. Had she not worried about the other girl, forfeiting the other's life if she had done so, she wouldn't have left them. She would have just suffered from a few injuries to her legs and not _died_.

As sick as it was he'd have chosen her life over any and all others.

He'd _always_ choose her.

_I will never lose her again_, he swore to himself with utter conviction. Even if she hated him for it he would make sure that his Bella was safe at all times. The first step to keeping her safe was simple enough. _No more going to Port Angeles alone_.

"Why do you call Bella 'Induja'?" Sam piped in, his hands flexing in agitation over his crossed arms.

"Spirits!" Embry bellowed, his own hands splaying out dramatically at the sides of his head as he whirled around towards their home. "If we're not going to kill these two then let's get the fuck inside. I need my mate. Now. We can talk about everything once the girls are taken care of."

Jacob stayed to the rear allowing his brothers and the two newcomers to head into their home. Belatedly he realized that his hands were shaking and that claws had begun to push through where his nails normally adorned his fingers. He curled them forcefully into his palms so that they drew blood and the slight pinprick of pain could distract him from his all-consuming distress.

_I almost lost her_, he thought with despair. _I almost fucking lost her_.

Jake dropped down to his knees in the moist grass out front of the cabin, his heart constricting painfully even now at the thought of never having Bella with him again.

He'd known deep down that he loved Bella long ago. As children he'd loved her in a nearly brotherly way, but in meeting her as an 'adult' she'd unleashed a part of him he'd been completely unaware of. The building need to be with her, be something for her, had burned brightly in his chest right from the start and only increased over time. He'd been unable to admit it, though. He had been unable to admit it to himself or any of the others that he truly loved Bella Swan.

…That is until his brothers had all succumbed to her.

With each of their admissions of love for her he'd felt the constriction around the three words lingering at the tip of his tongue diminishing until it was entirely gone. He felt freed. He had wanted to tell her immediately after Embry had shifted and revealed his emotions to the rest of them. He hadn't, though. He'd thought to wait for her to fall in love with them back before solidifying it with his own claim.

That idea had blown up in his face when those two delinquent pups had so wrongly insulted their beauty, their imprint, and then shifted in front of her as they allowed their beasts free to maul her.

He still had to suppress the urge to shred them to pieces for thinking of doing such a thing to their Alpha female even now.

His body shuddered as the wolf prowled closer to the surface. Blood. Retribution. Mate. It wanted all of those things and more.

"Fuck! Let me go, damn it!" His ears twitched frantically at the normally gentle, lilting voice of his mate having been twisted into something resembling a rasping crow of anger called outward to him. His head jerked upwards so that he could have a clear-view of the front door. Bella was stumbling straight towards him with a purpose, her body covered only by one of their over-large t-shirts and countless butterfly-bandages over her poorly abused legs. They looked like they'd suffered through a long jog through several miles of thistle-bushes.

All of his brothers trailed faithfully behind her, their hands outstretched to either catch her or stop her. He wasn't positive which one they were more prone to doing since his mind was stuck on the fact that his Bella was running around half-naked, on cold ground, mid-Fall, with severe-to-him injuries littering her fragile body.

"Get back inside, Bella." He barked, his ire brimming at her negligence.

The acrid scent of her worry accompanied by the sorrowful look in her eyes had his scowl disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Are you okay?" Her anxiousness practically dripped from her reddened lips as she dropped to her knees in front of him. Her hands settled over his cheeks, caressing them tenderly. She stared into his eyes pleadingly.

"I'm fine, little one," he sighed, unable to resist her. He settled his face more firmly into her cold touch. Even paled from her experience she was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his entire life. There would never be another that could compare to her. Inside or out.

"He's okay, Button." Paul assured her softly. He was only ever so genteel with their precious imprint. Just her. "Come on. Let's get you back inside. It's too cold out here for you." He bent to pick her up by her waist, but as soon as his hands contacted her clothed skin he froze as solid as a statue. His eyes flashed gold. His fingers shook almost imperceptibly over her tiny stomach.

"Paul?" Jake queried warily, noticing that the others had seemed to fallen into a state of rigor-mortis as well, their eyes equally consumed with their wolves. Something stirred in his gut and made it hard to breathe.

"Look at me."

His eyes unerringly found her chocolate brown ones. Her pupils were dilated and her lips were parted seductively. His nose flared out as he scented her arousal in the air. Oranges, spice, and Bella's heavenly musk.

It was decadently thick.

"I thought it was a mistake and it might still be," she began, her pink tongue darting out to wet her kissable lips. His cock jerked and swelled in an instant. With no pants on the thing pointed itself towards her like compass-North. It knew exactly where it wanted to be and he was sure that he would enjoy the trip there just as much as it would. Bella's body was made for long, heavy bouts of loving.

"Even if it is a mistake," her husky words, sullied only by the rasp of the water she'd inhaled not even an hour ago, drew him back from his lust partially, "I want you to know something. I love you all, too. I'm sorry it took something so severe to make me realize it."

Her delicate hands slipped back from his cheeks to curl into his hair, her nails scraping his scalp deeply. He hissed in erotic pleasure.

"Will you take me?" She breathed into his chin, her heartbeat echoing heavily in his ears. It was beating far faster than normal with a mixture of nervousness and her awakening. Her petal-soft lips drifted over the underside of his chin at the top of his Adams-apple. His hands ricocheted around her slight frame to hug her to his naked body. It was an unthinking action, but the results felt so right.

"I want you to take me. I want…I want to be yours as long as I can and know that you'll always have a part of me."

His brothers took up a chorus of purrs and growls as he used a hand to pull her head to the side by the clustered strands of her hair. The sea-water had been unkind to it. His own lips nibbled her ear before kissing at the column of her neck. The scent of her was like a shot of whiskey coursing through his blood. It desensitized him to everything but the feel of her in his arms and the taste of her on his lips.

"Not a mistake, mate." He growled into her neck, biting it sharply, and then pulling their heads away from each other so that he could look straight into her eyes. He was consumed by them despite their half-lidded state.

…He would die a happy wolf to be consumed by her always.

"Always ours." He purred, licking his own lips.

"Always yours."

In a move too swift for mortal man he dove over her, sheltering her from the ground with a hand at her lower back, another at her nape, and secured his lips to her own. His weight pressed down on her with his cock frantically thumping at her upper thighs.

She would be theirs fully.

Tonight.

_Finally_.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Oh my gosh! Don't hit me! It's a complete cliff-hanger and I know you're going to want to strangle me, but just think about the next chapter and what you can expect! It's what you've all been waiting for. As always, read and review at your leisure. No slandering each other, please.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	21. Chapter 21: The Claiming

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Claiming**

Bella gasped, the sound hacked off unattractively as Jacob toppled them over so that he could lay himself and his marvelous heat over her smaller body. His hands kept the upper part of her body from scraping along the hard ground while her legs curled a little painfully around his waist to keep them from the moist ground. She felt the butterfly bandages pull for only a moment before Jake's lips trampled her own.

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><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

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><p>"Ah fuck." Jake murmured heavily as she opened her mouth to free him. She swallowed heavily, a little sick from the blood. She was happy that though she could taste his blood she could not smell it because of their still emitting musk. Her eyes stared sorrowfully at the eclipse of teeth marks she'd left in his chest. She didn't think she'd ever understand how they could possibly find joy in the pain.<p>

"Bella?" The softly-spoken, husky words of her would-be-lover caressed her as much as the hands at her back did. She released his deflated penis slowly so as not to overstimulate it so soon. Her brows knitted together as her bite marks healed before her eyes, the fairly small amount of blood concealing any scars he might have retained.

"It wasn't the right time," she whispered, tilting her head back so that she could look up into Jacob's weathered face. He looked like she'd just run him from Washington to Texas, not made him cum in her hands. It made smugness bloom in her. For being a virgin she unquestionably knew how to get _her_ men off.

"Oh Spirits." He rasped, his eyes showing his shame. He dropped his head to let his forehead nuzzle her own. "I'm so damn sorry. I just…I lost it. Oh, fuck no. I would have raped you. I would have…"

"No, Jake," she snapped firmly. Her hands rose to caress his bare shoulders. She would have cupped his cheeks, but felt a little awkward about putting her hands, which had just jerked him off, anywhere near his face. "No, you wouldn't have raped me. None of you would have. Even like that you care about me and my needs, but…"

She nibbled on her lip with indecision, staring into his fathomless black eyes, and then sighed. She might as well speak her mind. "This isn't what I'd want my first time to be like. I want to be in a bed where it's familiar and comforting. I don't want to be watched like an animal in an exhibit. I just…I want it to be special."

"I'll make it special." He promised her wholeheartedly, his eyes softened to the extreme as he looked down at her. His lips kissed hers tenderly, his tongue licking away the leftover blood from her bite. "You deserve nothing short of perfection. You deserve better than what I was about to do."

"It's okay. I'm a big girl." She grinned coyly, a small flush tinting her cheeks. "I think I handled the situation well."

Barking laughter made her arch her head back at an odd angle to view the six getting shakily to their feet. Sometime during their climaxes they had apparently fallen to their hands and knees. They all had different sorts of smiles on their faces, but had guilt shimmering in all their eyes. Quil scratched his shoulder nervously.

"You could say that, Princess." He waved his free hand at them. "How about you two get up, hm? We still need to get Bella the attention she needs and the others are waiting in the cabin."

As Jacob nodded and lifted them both to _his_ feet the others took a single step forward. They all looked at her regretfully. Seth gulped audibly, reaching forward to brush her matter hair out of her face.

"We're sorry," Seth murmured, despair clear in his tone. His warmed hands cupped her cheek and neck. "We lost control of ourselves and that would have hurt you badly. Can you forgive us?"

"Of course I can!" She cried emphatically, fighting from Jake's arms to lurch forward and hug her youngest wolf. His arms banded around her, cautious of her bruised and sore back. She pecked him on the chest since cheek was too high. "I told you, I love you all. This isn't something I ever imagined would happen to me and it sure as Hell isn't going to be easy for any of us, but I'm willing to try anything to see us through. You're not just my mates. You're my best friends."

"Thank you, Baby." He hushed into her hair. He stooped above her so that he could slide his forearm under her rump and then pulled her upwards on his chest. She winced at the pull in her injured legs, but eagerly held onto him. His other hand braced itself behind her nape to cuddle her to his neck. "Let's go inside and finish looking you over, okay? We can talk to the others while we're at it."

"Okay." She glanced over his shoulder as he walked to see the others following obediently behind, Jacob rubbing the drying blood from his chest with a triumphant grin on his face. Paul diverted her attention to him when she walked directly behind Seth. He tried to smirk.

"You'll let us _take care_ of you later, won't you, Button?" She gave him a genuine smile, snuggling more solidly into Seth's shoulder.

"If you're good boys." She teased, scratching her fingers very lightly over Seth's opposite shoulder. "Maybe."

_Definitely_, the inner her snorted derisively, already lost in the thoughts of her impending deflowering.

The rest of her, though, was trembling with nerves under the bravado.

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><p>Bella traced one of the butterfly bandages on the ball of her ankle idly, a cup of hot tea in her other hand. The heat permeated through her still frigid skin and made things a little more bearable. As soon as Seth sat her on the sofa Jared got back to work plucking the splinters out of the few cuts she had left that he hadn't already seen to. Following that he'd doused her with heavy antiseptic ointment and applied the bandages gingerly. Every time she'd hissed he'd apologize profusely, but kept on with his task. When he'd finished he set one of their thicker quilts over her lower half to help her warm up.<p>

She'd have preferred to have been seated in one of their laps.

"Don't pick." Evy soothed next to her on the sofa. They'd been stationed next to each other, Evy having been treated for the same issues minus the drowning, and sufficiently tucked in until the Reservation doctor arrived. With the Rez being as small as it was and so many of the locals travelling out to the hospital in Forks for emergencies and such the man was left with mainly only the locals and regular doctors' visits to tend with.

_It's still some miracle that he makes house-calls_, she thought mirthlessly. In or out of a hospital, she didn't much care for doctors.

"I can't help it." She muttered back, flicking the end of her blanket over her feet so she wouldn't be _as_ tempted to toy with the white adhesive bandages. She had always been a horrible patient. Grumpy, irritable, rude, and over-all misbehaved. They needed to practically put her in one of those doggy-cones to keep her from messing with her various remedies.

Evy grinned brightly. "They'll just overrule you physically if you keep screwing with them." Her tone dropped to a whisper as she leaned towards her conspiratorially. Bella played along, knowing anything said between them could be heard by any Shifter at least a couple hundred feet away let alone in the same room. "Sometimes it's fun to push their buttons. I like to leave the apartment without my phone."

"Yes," Caleb began sovereignly, his eyes not leaving the circle of Shifters he was currently clustered in, "and it's earned you more than just a few scolding's."

"Exactly," Evy giggled. When she turned her attention back to Bella she rolled her eyes. The 'sneak' had been blown right out of her because her next comment was as clear as day to any human within hearing-range, which was thankfully only them. "They like to think they're in charge. They're not, though. As mates we rule the den."

"Says you." Boone snorted, his head pivoting to take them both in passively.

"Yes, says me!" Evy patted her ivory hand over Bella's only faintly darker one. "You boys go back to your little powwow. I have some important stuff to teach Bella."

"Be good, Evy." Caleb warned with serious intent in his gravelly voice. Something about his tone made Bella wonder if Evy was as sweet a darling as she first seemed. She doubted it. Bella knew that she herself came off as reserved and quiet to most people, but the ones closest to her knew her for the spitfire she really was. Why would Evy be any different?

"They find the dullest things interesting," Evy continued unfazed. She shifted her body a little on the couch to face her fully, a slight wince her only show of discomfort. Well, that and the shadows under her eyes from crying. Bella knew the look. She got it whenever she cried, too. It was in her experience that about ninety-eight percent of all females with pale skin got shadows under their eyes which resembled faint bruises that looked horrid whenever they cried, were sick, or tired. It was one reason she was so livid that she had never been able to get any lasting color on her skin. Nothing could hide those stupid 'bags'.

"Are they seriously talking about their penises?" Bella asked even though she could hear them clearly enough. It was just so…like a man of them. Caleb, Daire, and Boone were trying to explain the various ins-and-outs of the wolf form and they seemed to have gotten stuck on the topic of canine genitalia.

"Sounds like it." Evy chuckled. "I think the fact that your men have the ability to complete a successful half-shift got mine thinking. They told me once when we stopped in Quebec for a stay with a pack up there that only a few Alphas could do that anymore. It's something to do with their stores of energy and how strong their mate is that allows them to do that."

"Why would it matter how strong their mate was?" Bella queried as she sipped lightly at her tea. Her stomach felt like it'd just suffered the world's worst bender and was now threatening to revolt if she made any false moves…such as drinking her mint tea too fast.

"Their wolf – their souls and inner magic, feed off of their other half's soul. As mates we're connected to them on some basic level and when our souls connect they are able to know us better. That also means that they have a permanent link to us that lets them draw energy from our bodies. They actually pull from us without even knowing it."

"Is that why I got sick?" She wondered aloud, more to herself than to Evy. Still, she directed her explanation to the other girl. "Just after my, uhm, ex-boyfriend left I got really sick. I thought it was a bad cold or the flu or something. The guys took care of me until I got better."

"You mean you haven't had sex with them yet?" The words were blurted out in an automatic jumble and both of them blushed hotly when they realized what was said. Evy cleared her throat loudly. "Oh, I mean, ah…Sorry. I just assumed that you had mated with them since you all were so connected. Mates only get sick after mating that first time. It's when we open ourselves up to them fully and their souls can connect with ours."

"It's because she is Induja, Pumpkin," Daire soothed, walking up in front of them from the kitchen. He took their cups from them gently before replacing their tea with a newer, hotter supply. They both muttered their 'thank-you's. "Induja are essentially mates that are more in-tune with their own energy. Normals and Supes both have stores of energy; they just use them in different ways. Shifters shift. Vamps 'live' past death."

Daire set the kettle onto the coffee table with an oversized oven-mitt under it to keep the wood safe and then smiled sincerely at her. "As Induja you have more access to your energy than Normals do, but without the genetic coding of a Supe you can't really do a lot with it. With your mates, though, you'll find that you have a lot more to give energy-wise than Evy could with my brothers and me. You don't need to be in the throes of passion when everything else is forgotten to open to your mates because, even unconsciously, you had opened yourself to a connection with them. Regular mates can't do this."

"Well, what does it mean to be an Induja?" She tossed in her scratching voice, puzzled by the whole thing and what it meant for her. A thought came to her and instantly made her blurt out, "I won't get sick again, will I? 'Cuz, honestly, that sucked."

Daire chuckled and ruffled her hair affectionately. Several growls made him pull it back as if she'd scalded him.

"No, you won't get sick again. You connected to your Alphas already in that way and they have been feeding off of your energy since. It will make no difference in that way after claiming." His head tilted in thought as he continued. "Induja are not common. Perhaps two are born every three-hundred years or so. The only one that I am aware of living now is in Quebec with her five mates. She is quite aged now. She is said to be able to see things…premonitions. Not often, but at times when it's needed the most. She also has a deeper connection with her mates than most mated groups do. A perk of the added energy. I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that Induja live longer than other Normals. Not by a lot, but well into their mid-to-late one-hundreds. That's just a rumor, though."

"Well, wouldn't _somebody_ know?" Bella began incredulously. "I mean, you said she was in Quebec. Surely someone's been around them long enough to tell if they've aged or not."

"No," Daire shook his head lightly. "They only established a pack there in the last ten years or so. Before that they were Wanderers like most Shifters. It's impossible to keep track of Wanderers unless they're purposely leaving a trail."

"Is that what you guys are? Wanderers?" She glanced between Evy and Daire.

"Yep." Evy bobbed her head jerkily. "I met the guys when I was fourteen. We mated when I was sixteen. My parents found out about me being with three men and that was when they disowned me. We've been travelling ever since. It's kind of fun and I've met a lot of other Shifters and mates with the guys, but I really miss having a solid home. We can never stay in any one place for long, though, because of how taboo it is everywhere to be in a relationship like we are. When people find out they practically start a lynch-mob."

"That's why you're leaving, isn't it?" Bella asked sadly, her eyes becoming downcast. Her fingers picked at a stray thread in her quilt. "You all weren't accepted."

"No, we weren't." Daire placed a light kiss to Evy's temple before returning to the male group, apparently seeing that he wasn't needed anymore. Evy patted her knee. She bit her lip to avoid whimpering from the accidental hit to a particularly tender spot. "But we'll be around for another month or so. If you ever need someone to talk to about all this you can have me. I'll even make my men drive me all the way out here." They both ignored the indignant triad of snorts that answered that remark.

_I'm not worried about having someone to talk to…I just don't want to lose a friend_.

Bella nibbled her lip and concentrated. There was a spare room in this house if Evy and her men needed a place to stay for a while, but she wouldn't offer room-and-board to anyone when she didn't even own the house she was offering for use. Surely there could be another way to keep her new friend with her? There was her, Larissa, and now Evy, all mixed up in a Polyamorous relationship. It could only be beneficial if they stuck together and figured things out with each other's help.

_I'll talk to the guys later. If they aren't against it maybe they can help me think of something_.

"What's it like being a mate?" She tossed out randomly, wanting to get off the subject of Evy leaving Port Angeles and most likely Washington state altogether.

"It's nice." The red-head's smile was wistful. "Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just want to rip my hair out, but for the most part it's _really_ nice. Mates are doted on, cherished, listened to, given the best of everything available, and not to mention that the physical part of the relationship is to die for. Shifters are remarkably well-endowed."

"You're a closet-slut." Bella laughed joyfully, having just figured out the ripple in Evy's pleasant exterior. The girl was as horny as she was!

"You know it." They beamed at each other before returning to the real conversation. "With your mates pulling from your energy you'll feel more tired than you ever were before you met them. I usually have to have at least one nap a day. Sometimes two if I've had an exceptionally hard day. We usually get sick or hurt easier, too, because of the whole energy depletion thing. Less to take care of ourselves, you know? You can feel them, too, if you concentrate. You can know their moods, especially when they're mad or sad. That's why you ran out to Jacob like you did. You felt him and responded to it instinctually. They feel you the same way, but a lot stronger.

"Then there's one other thing." The girl's grey eyes sparkled a dazzling dark blue as mischief crept into every pore of her body. The change was so tangible that Bella could see it. "You can influence a certain _part_ of their emotions." The emphasis on the word 'part' had her cheeks alighting.

Oh yes. She had figured that one out, if only recently. She could make them all cum, even at a distance. She connected them all in a fundamental way, no matter how abnormal that was, and when one's orgasm loomed the others could feel it through her and responded in kind. She'd guessed at how it worked before, but now with the explanation on their 'connection' it made a lot more sense. Well, as much sense as something as illogical as the Supernatural world could be.

Bella was startled when she felt her body being lifted slowly by her thighs from the cushions and then placed tenderly into a wide, hot lap before she could teeter. A blissful sigh expelled from her mouth as she snuggled back into Paul's chest and arms when they wrapped around her.

"Hmm. Why couldn't we do this sooner?" Her voice cracked, as she knew it would for the next few days, so she steadfastly ignored it. She had been lethargic before, but with Paul's body heat soaking into her frame where her quilt didn't cover her she felt fully at peace and more than willing to drop off to sleep.

"Because you were too cold, Button. It would have been too much of a shock to your system up against our body heat with the fire going." His nose nuzzled into her ear as he continued shamefully, "We deserve to be castrated for panting over you earlier. It could have hurt you more…probably did hurt you more. We're so fucking stupid."

"No pity-party, _please_." She lifted her right hand so that she could rub her fingers through his scalp in the way she knew soothed him the most. His lips met the side of her jaw in thanks and reverence. "I knew what was happening and I stopped it before any harm could be done. I'm fine."

_I am so sick of that damn phrase. If I have to hear 'I'm fine' one more time I'm going to stab somebody_. The inner her cried peevishly as she battered against the solid metal door she'd been locked behind the moment they entered the cabin. The sensible part of her, the angel, had locked away the demonic side of her that was raunchy and demanding sex. Until she heard from the doctor's mouth that she would be just fine she wouldn't give in to her more basic desires.

_Fuck you! I want sex!_

She was more than thrilled that she was too tired outwardly to show her inner agitation and need. Even sick she knew that she needed to keep her wits about her and be the strong one. She could only crash once she knew everyone was settled.

Paul allowed her to sip at her tea on her own. She suspected that he knew that her hands would be warmer wrapped around the mug she had the tea in than out in the open if he were to hold it aloft for her. She appreciated that. Being fed like a baby, or a pampered Queen depending on her mindset, could be nice if she let her normally up-tight personality unwind to something more submissive and soothing. At times like this, though, where she was already out of sorts she didn't need pressure.

Bella needed what he was giving her.

Calm and patience.

_And blessed heat_. She thought as she dropped her head back into his collarbone. His chest moved rhythmically against her back as he breathed in and out, his breath fanning across her scalp. She felt beyond crappy and wanted nothing more than to get fully cleaned from her little 'swim' and then to fall into bed for a long nap.

Her inner slut slapped the door viciously and remarked that there would be no sleep until she got laid. The bitch was _extremely_ needy, apparently.

Jacob came towards her from the kitchen, having been in there while Daire was getting her and Evy's tea, and set the backs of his fingers to her cheek to gage her temperature. Her eyes drifted downward from his concerned, yet slightly stiff face to view his recently acquired jeans. A part of her was thankful for the decency he and his brothers adopted since entering their home, but a greater part of her whined over the fact that she could no longer view him unhindered.

_Dang, I'm turning into as much of a wanton-slut as that she-devil in me is_.

"Your temperature has finally begun to come up to somewhere around normal." She bit her tongue sharply to keep herself from asking how he could possibly know since his hands were always as hot as a frying pan. "Do you feel sick? Dizzy?"

"Tired." She conceded to that. Even a drunken blind-man would be able to decipher that much about her. "I hurt," she said on a whisper after a drawn out minute. She was rewarded by Paul stiffening minutely under her before he began to knead his fingers into her arms with calculated strength.

Jacob's head cocked to the side as she sighed contentedly and the other boys went silent. His head nodded in a definitive manner an instant later.

"The doctor's here." Bella didn't bother asking how he knew. Either he'd smelled the doctor or he'd heard him. Maybe his wolf-senses had tingled? She didn't much care with Paul soothing away the minor muscle aches in her arms and shoulders.

Jacob waited until the front doorbell was wrung before going to let the doctor in. She smirked a little in her elected seat imagining the doctor's startled face if the door had been opened prematurely. Someone might have thought her men were psychics…or crazies always watching through the windows like peeping-Toms.

"Hello Jacob. How are you this evening?"

"Fine, Doc. Bella's in here with her friend Evy." Being faced away from the front door on Paul's lap she wasn't readily able to give the man a welcoming smile and eye-contact until he'd rounded the couch.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Kurt Jamison. Everyone around here calls me Doc. Clichéd, I know." The man intoned in his raspy old voice. He stretched out his grizzled hand for her to shake, which she did. She took him in from his pale brown eyes, wrinkled-tan forehead, and salted black hair tied in a low pony at the nape of his neck to his casual washed jeans, burgundy button-up, and well-loved black loafers. Doctor Jamison had to have been somewhere in his mid-to-late fifties, but he didn't look overly aged. He had wrinkles and a few age spots on his dark cheeks, but life seemed to have treated him well.

"I'm Bella." She cleared her throat when it cracked on her. Her left hand gestured towards Evy beside her. "This is Evy." She neglected to mention Paul. She didn't doubt that the two men knew each other and since the older man didn't object to her positioning she wouldn't bother to bring up her closeness to any of her men. He'd draw his own conclusions anyway.

"Nice to meet you." He slid the tea across the table a little ways before perching himself on the edge unabashedly. It made her smile softly. He had nerve, which would go a long way with her Shifters. They had enough people rolling onto their backs to please them. "Can you tell me what happened today, Bella?" The man asked as he opened a bag she hadn't taken notice of before. It looked like a paramedic's kit, minus the emergency symbols.

"Evy and I were walking the pier in Port Angeles when it fell in on itself. The splintered wood cut us when we fell. I helped Evy get out of the water, but got stuck. I drowned, but I was pulled out and they got me breathing again." Her throat was more raw after having explained, had been growing worse as she continued to use her voice after the incident, so she took a sip of her tea. The heat was nearly agonizing on her abused throat, but felt wonderful to the rest of her still chilled body.

"I see." The elder male pulled a stethoscope from his bag and proceeded to check her breathing despite Paul's refusal to remove her from his person. She inhaled and exhaled when asked, feeling the rasping in her chest and knowing he could hear it just as well. He took her pulse, checked the dilation of her eyes, inspected her ears, and tested her muscle reaction in her arms and legs. Following the preliminary exam he checked the wounds Jared had cleaned and bandaged before nodding. He mimicked the same procedure for Evy.

"All right," he began as he plopped back down onto the lip of the coffee table, "here's what I can see without any of my equipment. The first is that while your abrasions were tended to marvelously, I must say, the wood from the pier will have undoubtedly contained microbes and bacteria that can cause infection. I believe it would be best to give you both a tetanus shot." Bella paled considerably at those words. Her men gave her supportive and encouraging looks from behind the 'good doctor'. "You, Bella, also still have a very small trace of water left in your lungs. I imagine that you'll be sick several times through the night. You'll need somebody to watch you in case you get sick while you're asleep so that you won't choke. Will someone be with you for at least tonight?"

"She has us," Sam supplied unequivocally. The doctor responded in surprise, his brows receding up into his hairline for several moments before his previously sedate mannerisms returned. He was apparently well-versed in appropriate bed-side manner.

"Parents?" He inquired flatly.

"Bella's father is coming in a matter of a few hours when he's off work and Evy's guardians are these three." Jacob waved offhandedly towards Caleb, Boone, and Daire as they flanked Evy.

"Then I'm going to prescribe some antibiotics and painkillers for you girls. I have enough with me to last until tomorrow when you can go to a pharmacy and get the rest. Are either of you allergic to anything?" At their head-shakes he pulled a notepad with prescription sheets from his bag and scribbled on two of them. "The cuts, just so long as they're properly looked after, will heal cleanly and most won't even leave a scar. Mainly, Bella, you need to rest and recover. If you have any trouble breathing, become feverish, or remain sick for several days you are to go straight to the hospital. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir." She agreed meekly, allowing Seth to take the prescription sheet from the man so that she could remain comfortably curled up on Paul's lap.

Doctor Jamison delved into his bag for a moment and then pulled out two intimidating looking needles, a vial, and a hazardous waste bag. Bella pulled back into Paul's chest as if she could disappear into him. She hated needles.

Seth stepped up beside them as the doctor prepped the needle. She bit her lip and glanced up at him pleadingly. Maybe they wouldn't make her get the shot? She'd be fine without it.

Her hopes were dashed, however, when Seth gripped her right shoulder with one hand and elbow with the other to keep it still and open for the doctor. She scowled deeply at him, silently promising retribution for this betrayal. He just gave her that indulgent look that she was becoming all too familiar with. It was look that said that she held all the strength of an adorable kitten.

"There now." Doctor Jamison proclaimed cheerily after he'd depressed the plunger into both of their arms and retreated to where it was safe…out of smacking distance of their hands. She and Evy fumed silently under the veil of their exhaustion. The damned shot hurt worse than a horse-fly bite. It felt more like the older man had jammed her arm with a blunt knife than a pin-sized needle.

The elder Native stood, packing up his supplies following his short visit, and giving all the men in the room sour looks. "I expect everyone to behave themselves. These girls have been through enough for one day and need _rest_ to heal."

_Clever man_, the inner-her thought, paying him little heed nonetheless. She knew what she wanted, despite her fatigue, and she would get it regardless of her physical discomfort.

Eventually.

"Thank you, Doc," Jared spoke up, taking her pills from the older man. Boone took Evy's. "We'll stop by your office tomorrow to cover the charges."

"That would be much appreciated. Now, I'll wish you goodnight ladies and gentlemen. My wife is waiting for me at home." Bella waved to the man as Jared handed her her tea back along with the pills. She swallowed them without argument while the doctor was escorted out.

"He seemed nice." Evy yawned, being scooped up by Daire to cuddle in his lap after taking her own pills.

"He's a good man." Seth assured her with a light smile on his handsome face. "He's been working on the Rez as a doctor for the past thirty years or so. He deals with a lot of unique cases as well as random, normal things you'd expect from disobedient children always playing on the Cliffs. He's also aware of our dual nature since he's a member of the Council."

"I didn't know that." Bella yawned widely. Her brow furrowed when she registered that tiredness was creeping in a lot closer to her than it had been before. Could the pills really be working that quickly? If they were she didn't think she wanted to take any more.

_Not like I'll have a choice_, she thought waspishly, miffed that the guys always seemed to get high-handed with her at the worst times. _Maybe when I go home with Dad after the weekend I can just throw the spare pills away? Hmm, it's a thought_.

"We should be going." Caleb's deep voice intoned. His right hand swiped through Evy's inferno-like hair. "Evy needs to be put to bed."

"I do not!" Her friend snapped childishly. Bella knew the feeling. She always felt petulant when her men treated her like she was incapable of taking care of herself.

"You're falling asleep already, Pumpkin." Daire bopped her up and down on his lap gently. Evy's head lolled. She yawned again. The men, even hers, chuckled.

"They're all butt-heads." Evy spoke directly to her. Bella eyed her friend and suspected that the lethargy assailing the red-head was equal to her own. Undoubtedly she was due to be chastised as well if she fought against her men in this.

Jacob dropped to a crouch in front of her, drawing her attention there. His fingers caressed her cheek.

"Let's put you down for a nap before your father comes here, hm? We can bring Evy and her men and the pups with Issa over tomorrow to talk more, okay?" A lame argument that tomorrow was Friday and that Issa had school and she had work sprung to her mind, but did not pass her lips. Her men did what they wanted without reservations. She'd already decided she wouldn't have school since she was going to join her father in La Push for the weekend and now that she was injured she knew she wouldn't be allowed without coercion to return to work until she was better. Maybe not even then if they had it their way.

She just wasn't strong enough to take on an argument of that magnitude at that moment.

Bella drowsily opened her eyes as she was hoisted off of Paul's inviting lap and into Jacob's arms. Her own arms, heavily laden with the pain-killers the doctor had given her, settled over his shoulders so that her fingers touched each other behind his shoulder-blades. Her head, mouth facing and breathing over his neck, rested along his left shoulder. His hands held her aloft by her rounded posterior while her legs lightly embraced his thick waist. She was too spent to do much more than allow him to maneuver her.

"Escort them off the Rez and then come straight back here." Jacob's baritone rumbled through her like a vibrating chair. It made her hum reactively into his hold. She was swiftly losing control of all parts of herself to the welcoming embrace of sleep. Jake shook her a little roughly when her eyes fluttered against the darkened column of his throat to keep her conscious. "You know what to do."

With that he pivoted and began to carry her to her room. She didn't even have the energy to wave goodbye to the three Shapeshifters that were Evy's mates and her already softly-snoring friend as they were led to the front door. The doors to her room opened and closed with the same soft click of the metal handle and the swish of the aged wood across the carpet. It only served to lull her more.

The gentle rocking motion stopped abruptly as she was tipped backwards as her best friend pulled the sheets down as far as his single arm would allow him and set her down with such care she thought she might have evaporated into space without his loving devotion. She let her eyes close languorously as her body succumbed to the softness of her bed and the clean-smelling sheets all but swallowing her.

They flicked back open readily, however, when Jacob's hands hooked around the lower hem of her borrowed t-shirt.

"What are you doing?" She squeaked, grabbing onto both of his wrists with her much daintier hands. Her fingers had no hope of ever touching each other.

"Getting you comfortable." He responded easily, tugging her shirt upwards towards her head despite her grip on his appendages. He obviously saw her hands and knew she was expressing resistance, but chose to ignore it. It was feeble, anyway.

"I can sleep with my shirt on, thank you."

"It's better off." He replied firmly, his eyes shining with that yellow light as his wolf crawled to the surface. It was a gradual change that she was easily absorbed in. She half-heartedly struggled to keep her modesty as she monitored the change and their inability to revert back to coal-black. Apparently the wolf was going to be around for a while.

Her vision was temporarily cut off as the fabric of her top was pulled completely over her head, the hem from the neck-hole tickling across her nose as it was tossed aside. Her eyes followed it for only a second before they trained in on Jacob, who stepped back admiringly.

A flush suffused her cheeks when she realized that she lay before him wearing only her bra and panties. She was showing no more than a bathing suit would show, but this was somehow more intimate and dangerous. His eyes raked over her hotly wreaking havoc in their wake. His lustful gaze awakened the previously, and currently, horny demon inside of her consciousness that had been prepared to sleep without much complaint only minutes before.

_Not anymore_, she thought smugly, eating up the alpha male through her hooded eyes.

She felt her jaw quake and threaten to unhinge as Jake slowly, but surely stripped right before her eyes. There wasn't much to lose since he was wearing only a pair of well-loved jeans, but the loss of the constrictive clothing had an instantaneous effect on her.

_This isn't happening_, a part of her thought demurely, bashfully aware of how inexperienced she was. That part of her would forever wonder how a male like Jacob, or any of the guys, could find her appealing in any way. They were veritable Native Angels dropped to Earth and they looked at little-ole-her like she was some grand prize they never wished to let go of.

"Can I have a bath?" She asked softly, wanting to escape for a chance to think on what was about to happen and gather her senses rather than to clean herself, though that was on her list of things-to-do as soon as she had the energy.

Jacob gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll bathe you later, little one."

_With him?_ She wondered blithely. _A bath with him? That's a joke, right?_ She couldn't imagine someone bathing her like she was a child again. She wouldn't deny that the idea of him washing with her was arousing as all-get-out, but she had been giving herself a bath since as far back as she could remember. Like feeding her, bathing her as a toddler held as much charm as it did repulsiveness. In the right mood she guessed that she might accept anything.

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><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

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><p>Hopelessly lost in the great tidal wave that was her claiming she could only weakly accept the sudden openness of her heart. Warmth of another kind flooded into and out of her soul to some distant points. Seven of them. She registered a feeling of triumph echoing throughout her body, though the triumph and pride was not her own. A well of power she'd been unaware of having until only hours before swelled around them, even her wolves outside, and cocooned them. Seven shots of pure, sparkling energy released themselves from her and out to the men she called her own.<p>

Bella sighed in both bliss and contentment. Jacob purred into her neck, lapping up at the blood she knew he'd drawn from her.

Bella shook like a leaf in her post-coitus high, her muscles spasming and locking uncontrollably. Her eyelids fell heavily closed as her mate continued his attentions on her. Sleep beckoned and with the aid of both her forgotten injuries, the medicine she'd been given, and the unsurpassable orgasm she'd been given she found no will to fight her body's desires. It was a wonder she hadn't passed out during her orgasm!

Falling into the abyss she didn't even register that Jacob was still buried in her, a tight knot having formed at the base of his penis near her entrance to hold him there, or that he kept mumbling words of endearment into her neck…the place he'd marked his territory to all others for the rest of their lives.

Nor did she notice that she wasn't the only one with a claiming mark on her person.

…For in her claiming, she'd indisputably used her own innate powers as mate to mark all of her men as hers.

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><p><strong><span>Notes<span>:** So? What do you think? I know you've all been waiting for this and I hope that it hasn't let you down. Keep in mind that Jake is the Prime and needed to claim his alpha female first…from here on out they're all game at any time in any order or sequence.

Also, thank you all for the wonderful reviews on the previous chapter. Over a hundred reviews on that one!

Anyway, review at your leisure. As always, keep your language clean towards each other as you'll be heard much better if you're respectful.

…I hope y'all like it.

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	22. Chapter 21 Part 2: Forever More

**Chapter Twenty-One, Part Two: Forever More**

His body sheltered hers entirely, his entire being centered on the only creature in the entire world that ever would matter to him and how best to give it all that it needed. All that _she_ needed…or wanted. His arms bracketed the sides of her head and shoulders with his fingers combing through the netted mess it had become in her earlier plight. His legs fairly quivered where they had been helping him to pump moments before with her own much daintier legs fallen open to either side of him. He could feel her cooling feet tickling across his ankles in that odd, yet seemingly comfortable angle they'd positioned themselves. With him still crouched above her with his knees to her sides her smaller height managed to reach parts of him that under normal circumstances she could not. His tongue occasionally peeked out to lave at the mark he'd left at the right-hand juncture of her neck.

"My mate," he uttered huskily, his very being swelling around his vulnerable, claimed female's succulent body and pure aura. He could feel her so much better now. He felt as if a part of himself, the part he'd known from the start that had been a part of her, was finally in-tuned to her. Every pulse of her heart he felt and knew as his own. Every breath she took gave him his queue to do so as well. He knew her exhaustion and the pain she'd felt before she'd passed out as his own. Every part of her but her mind was his…and he relished in it.

He looked only momentarily at the mark she now bore, _their_ mark, before lifting his head to take in her sleeping form. He hated himself almost as much as he felt pride in his new-found claim. While he'd never bemoan having Bella as fully his…_theirs_, now, he regretted having to narrowly force the bond on her while she was injured and weak.

That, however, was the exact reason why he needed to claim her!

He'd felt her terror and pain at first when she'd falling into the water. He'd been enraged and frightened beyond reason. His wolf had burst through, but only half-way when the man in him knew that the best way for him to aid her was as a man and not a beast. His brothers had shifted with him.

Then they'd felt her essence slip away from them as she died.

If even for a moment he had known what Hell was like.

He shuddered now, his knotted cock still firmly implanted in his female, as he remembered the stillness of everything when the tie that bound them snapped and was obliterated. For one blissful second he had been unable to think or feel anything but an awareness that something was missing. That second, however, had blown away with the same swiftness it had come and his heart had all but bled for the other half of it that had been ripped out of its grasp. A red haze descended over his mind and eyes, the wolf and man howling as one into the sky at the profound and irreplaceable loss it had suffered. Pain exploded into every fiber of his being. He felt as if we was being torn asunder, his body engulfed in slow-moving, tortuous flames.

Above all he felt completely alone and incomplete.

He'd been half-way ready to destroy all of La Push and the rest of Washington in a vain effort to retrieve what had been lost to him, knew he could never get back, but willing to try regardless, when the feeling of her sparkled, slowly, back into existence. He'd dropped to his knees and openly wept with his brothers by his side. He thanked every God and Spirit he could think of for the return of his mate.

As soon as he could get his body to respond to his urgings he began to call her while his brothers readied themselves in the half-forms they'd unwittingly discovered to reclaim their mate physically if necessary.

He shook his head firmly, resolving in his mind that he would _never_ allow her to come to any harm again. She was theirs completely now. She would know nothing but peace, love, and happiness as long as any of them breathed.

_Fuck, I sound like a damned pansy._

_We all do._ The sound of his brother's voice in his head made him jerk it away from the delicate neck he'd been nuzzling and stare with shock out the French doors of his mate's bedroom. Six sets of glowing yellow eyes met him from varying distances from the glass, but all of them focused unerringly on the beauty locked beneath him.

_It seems our mate just united us as brothers more closely than even our wolves could._ Sam's obsidian form bobbed his head once in a gesture similar to a head-jerk. _Look at your neck, Alpha. Feel it. I would say we're appropriately collared by our Mistress._ Amusement and unwavering devotion flittered into his mind from them all.

Jake touched the fingers of his right hand to his neck and found the skin there tender, raised, and pulsing in the same beat as his little one's heart. The mark spanned the column of his neck all the way around. He had noticed a burning there when he'd climaxed into Bella's heat, but had been too absorbed in their pleasure to pay much mind to it.

_A collar, huh? _He smirked down at the female beneath him as, finally, the knot in his penis began to deflate. He was absently grateful that he'd never experienced such a thing with any of the other women he'd slept with in his past post-Shift. How would he have explained that to any Normal woman? _As good as having her name flayed into my back, but far more enjoyable._

And it was. Both parts of him rejoiced in having her, and he knew it was her, physically claim him in such a way. The mark didn't hurt and it made him feel more at-one with her. A primal part of him saw it as her way of marking her territory and warning other females off of what was so clearly hers. It had him practically preening.

He knew he'd forever parade her mark to the rest of the world, Normal, Shifter, or Supe.

_I am hers_.

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><p><strong>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<strong>

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><p>Though his wolf practically pranced in his soul at the idea of filling their mate with his seed. The man in him knew it was wrong, knew that he wasn't ready for a child and Bella sure as Hell wasn't, but the wolf in him was tickled to even imagine Bella carrying their pups in her safe womb.<p>

She's on the pill, a part of him sang, having seen the package of four-weeks of pills several times since imprinting on her. Another part of him shot back that he had no clue if the human-developed medicine would have any effect on his Shapeshifter seed. He and his brothers were still human, but more.

I won't risk it until I know more, he decided, scowling to think of not being able to enjoy her, nor his brothers being able to, until they had this situation figured out.

Sighing, Jake resolved to figure it out later…and clean himself…when the afterglow of their climax wasn't still looming. Loathe to release her completely he rolled onto his back and pulled her gently atop him. He tugged the blankets over them both as awareness niggled at him slowly.

He knew he should be questioning how he could hear his brothers now when he wasn't shifted over. He should wonder over the mark she'd left on them. He should try to figure out why, exactly, he'd knotted like a dog inside of her upon his completion. There were many things he should have worried about, but the only thing that mattered to him in that moment was that for the first time in his life he felt completely whole.

And he had only his little one to thank for it.

…Thank her he would, too. He would never for a moment let her believe that she was unloved, for he loved her with every fiber of his being. They all did.

_My Bella. My mate._

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><p><em><em>**Disclaimer****: **I do NOT own Twilight.


	23. Chapter 22: The Guidelines

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Guidelines**

Bella scrunched up her nose as she and her two female compatriots continued to jot down the primary rules to living with Shapeshifters. It was slightly immature and certainly not fully appropriate for their situation, but it definitely made them feel better.

"That's just wrong." Issa whispered in a horrified voice.

"It's true, though." Evy nodded her head slowly, but in a sure manner. Her grey eyes showed her sorrow over the fact she'd just spoken to them. "The Madness seeps in after a hundred years or so if a Shapeshifter can't find his mate. The only way to save him from himself and saving others from him after that is to put him down or get his mate to him. Sometimes the second option isn't possible."

Bella leaned back into her stack of pillows, which her men had clustered around her before they'd left them for their 'play date'. Evy had been treated in much the same manner and while Issa had chuckled over the coddling at first, the two of them had assured the darker-skinned girl that she could look forward to the same if she got herself in a similar situation. That had silenced her fairly quickly.

Bella shuddered when she thought of her men suffering in that way and the world losing them. It tore something in her heart to think of never having them in _her_ life, either.

"Hey, Bella? Are you okay?" Issa's hand came to rest on the hand she'd been using to pick at her blanket. It startled her, but she smiled nonetheless. The girls didn't look convinced.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine."

She wasn't, though. Not really. She thought back to the night before and warred within herself on whether she should feel contentment or troubled.

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><p><em>Bella snuggled into the warmth of masculine flesh, her mouth opened as she breathed him in. Something had woken her up just enough that she was aware of her surroundings to an extent, but since there was no tingling awareness that she'd come to know as an instinctual sense for danger she let herself drift in-between sleep and wakefulness.<em>

_Steady, sure hands caressed her back and sides where she was perched atop a male body. A still drugged, dazed part of her mind knew that the male was _her_ male. Her Alpha. Her Jacob. Her lips puckered enough to kiss his pectoral. A low-vibration purr drifted up to her ears from Jake's chest at her action._

"_Bella? Are you okay?" His voice was caught somewhere between husky and worried. She noted faintly that his soothing hands were running in a pattern as if they were cataloguing every part of her body and looking for errors. A part of her wilted under his caring ministrations. Too bad she wasn't awake enough to enjoy it._

_She was going back to sleep._

"_Bella? Please, Bella." She groaned as she was pulled upwards and along his hairless chest so that her face was cradled into his neck. "Wake up, honey. I need to know if you're okay."_

_The realization that it was _that_ that had awoken her, Bella growled in frustration. She was getting tired of unconsciously responding to Jake's need for her. Evy was right. Whenever he was emotional about something she felt it, even if only to a fractured degree, and she responded to those feelings without thinking. He was worried about her now and she'd drug herself out of her semi-coma for him._

_Only the knowledge that he'd loved her so well and was genuinely concerned for her kept her from becoming cranky and crying._

_Actually, she might just start crying, though for an entirely different reason._

_Despite her lingering pain from the fall, the throbbing in her arm from her shot, and the newer pain from her claiming just south of the Panty-line into her Promised Land as well as the overwhelming lethargy Bella was supremely content. She could remember Jake murmuring loving words to her as she passed out. Could still recall the feeling of him inside of her, stuck, but at peace to be there. His gentleness and burning enthusiasm for her and her body as clear as day to her fogged mind._

_Bella felt enveloped in warmth she'd never once felt before in her life with this handsome, strong man whispering endearments into her ear as he touched her with all-consuming possession and devotion. He made her feel beautiful and desirable, two things she'd never truly felt before. She felt at home with him. A sense of near-complete fulfillment washed through her._

_She would only be happier if she'd been able to be with her other men in the same way, though a whimpering part of her still shied away from her intimacy with any of these men, especially _all_ of them. Even a trained whore would have run for the hills screaming in the face of seven oversized cocks awaiting her…and had been a virgin!_

_The tears she'd thought might come earlier dripped from her closed eyelids as she allowed her peace and joy to radiate through her. She hoped he could feel it. She wanted them all to feel her happiness. She purposefully pushed the shining joy outwards and was rewarded with the arms searching her constricting about her torso._

"_My Bella." Jake rumbled into her scalp, rocking her tenderly on his chest. "Spirits…I love you so damned much."_

"_Love you, too." She kissed his neck blindly and let the blackness creep in again. She just wanted to sleep. She needed to. She wanted to be awake with him, but her body wasn't allowing her to. "Please, lemme sleep. Please."_

"_Shh. It's okay." He placed a kiss to her temple. "You can sleep, little one. I'll be here. Shh."_

_Knowing he spoke only truth to her, Bella snuggled further into his warmth and slipped away on a sigh. She'd be able to sleep until the end of eternity at the rate she was going._

_Some time later she groaned in discomfort as a large hand swiped over her forehead and through her hair. She was aching damned near everywhere. She wanted to go back to sleep where the pain was nonexistent and she could pretend that she'd never taken a tumble off of that pier and drowned. She wanted the peace of unconsciousness that Jake had all but promised her what seemed like only seconds ago._

I'll fucking kill that bitch for this_, she thought vindictively. She wanted to watch that abomination that was once a human female be shattered into a billion pieces and then roasted over an open flame. She was as bad as her deceased mate that left his silvered scar on her hand. Bella didn't even care that she was acting like an insane, rabid animal inside her own mind…she just wanted revenge for what she now suffered. _

"_Come on, Bella. It's time to get up so you can talk to your dad." Jacob's voice was gravely, but soft-spoken. Still she wanted to smack him away from her. He's the one that brought her back to awareness when she wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next decade or so…for a second time!_

No, wait, a third. The first time was when he decided to pull my shirt off and entice me into nookie…though I really didn't put up much of a fight._ No, she'd been anything but combative. One kick of adrenaline and she was prepped for the sex she'd been craving from her men since the beginning._

_She suspected that every other drop of adrenalin in her body had depleted itself by now._

"_Go 'way," she moaned, rolling her head into a pillow that smelled like him. Hmm. He smelled so good. She'd only have felt better if she was laying still on top of him. He was just so warm and large, made just for her._

"_I'm sorry, little one." She felt his lips touch her temple sweetly. "I know you're tired and hurting and what we did made it worse, but we need to get you cleaned up so your father doesn't freak out more. He's scared enough, honey."_

_And _that_ was the only reason she conceded and opened her eyes blurrily. She could be a selfish bitch on her own time, but the truth of the matter was that her father needed her to be strong. He was worried about her and she knew that she couldn't reassure him properly with salt from the sea still clinging to her skin and having her hair as gnarled as a bird's nest. After she'd comforted and reassured him, though, she was crawling straight back into bed. No one would pull her out of it until she deemed that _she_ was ready to be awake._

_Her eyes slid over to meet the tender gaze of her best friend, lover, and mate sitting at her side still as naked as he had been before. His right hand cupped her cheek lovingly while his left rubbed a soothing pattern over her left shoulder and arm. The rest of her was tucked carefully under her thick bedding. She could tell by the feeling of the microfiber blanket against her breasts and pelvis that she was just as naked as he._

_Heat suffused her cheeks and Jake beamed at her, a chuckle rising from the depths of his throat._

"_So bashful," he chided, his delight clear. "I had hoped that you'd still keep that pretty blush of yours. It lights up your face."_

_She felt another rush of blood leeching into her face, but it stopped abruptly as she let her eyes zone in on a dark band marring the column of Jacob's neck. She immediately tugged his hand from her face and drew it back over her head towards the headboard to force Jacob to lean over her with the extension of his arm. Once he was near enough she released his hand and clamped both of hers over his shoulders._

"_What is that?" She whispered hoarsely, her eyes trying to take in the new addition to his person in the poor light of her room. The fireplace was going hot, but that was at the other side of the room and she was too far away from the bedside table to flip the switch on the lamp, so she just made due with the limited amount of visibility she had._

_Jacob's neck, to her eyes, looked as if it'd been scarred and then marked over with tattoo ink. The scarring, darker than his russet skin by only a couple shades, circled his entire neck like a collar. Black symbols that she couldn't make head or tails of overlapped the scarring strategically to make a pattern. All in all it looked like some ultimate tribal tattoo done-up for some bad-ass biker gang._

_He definitely did not have this on him before she'd passed out!_

_Her fingers, shaking now, skimmed over the old-looking marks. Tingling awareness shot up through her fingers, to her hands, then her arms, and all the way through her shoulders to her chest cavity where her heart beat rhythmically. The beating of her heart was mimicked by the pulsing of the mark at her fingertips._

"_What the Hell is this?" She reiterated in horror. Jake took up a purr immediately in the face of her rising panic. He used his larger hands to remove her touch before he swept them across her face and neck comfortingly._

"_It's okay." He tried to assure her, his dark eyes speckled with the glow of his wolf. She let herself be pulled in by his unwavering stare…let him attempt to calm her. He'd be able to do a better job of it than she could, anyway. She only ever worked herself up more and if she riled herself up too much she knew she'd end up having a panic attack for the first time in many, many months. "You marked us when I claimed you as ours. It's okay. We didn't expect this, but it's not a bad thing. We like it, Bella."_

"We?_" She groaned again and slapped her hands over her face in disgruntlement. "Oh God! No. I didn't want to do that. I didn't mean to. Oh my God, are you guys okay? Did it hurt? I am _so_ sorry!" The last was choked on a sob._

Oh Lord! Here we go again! Emotional backwash_. The inner-her complained as she tapped the proverbial broom against the ceiling just below where her brain was housed. _Stop all that blubbering. Some of us are too tired to deal with this shit at the moment. Use your head, woman_._

"_Bella," Jake sighed with a pleasant smile on his face. He again pulled her hands away so that he could pet her. "It felt good, Bella. Really good. You opened yourself to us completely when I mated you as our alpha female. We're all connected fully now…and you've marked us, too. What Evy and Daire were talking about, you sharing your energy with us? You marked us with that, we think, and our bodies responded to that marking by making a physical manifestation of it."_

"_I just – It looks like it hurt." She whimpered sorrowfully, her hands twitching as they longed to touch the marks again._

"_It didn't. Not really." He cradled the right side of her neck with one hand. "Did it hurt here? Does it still hurt?"_

_Her mind took a sudden U-turn back to their lovemaking and she recalled the harsh bite he'd given her. It had hurt at the time, yes, but it was almost an erotic pain. It had only aroused her more and pushed her into a higher level of completion. Now…now it didn't even throb. Her nether regions did, but the bite he'd left to her neck and shoulder held absolutely no pain. All she could feel was a tingling awareness, like she'd felt from his mark, coursing through the spot he was caressing._

"_No."_

"_Yours is like ours in that sense. No pain." Jake pivoted his head so that he could look at the wall across the room. He exhaled deeply and stood. Her eyes were riveted for a heart-stopping moment on his firm ass. Her heart stuttered as she remembered digging her nails into the luscious globes. Jacob laughed heartily as he turned, startling her._

"_I can feel that, Bella." He assured her, his grin as wide as his entire face. At her confused face he elaborated, all the while stripping the blankets from her body. "I can feel your lust for me now. You want me badly, don't you, honey?"_

_She floundered like a fish for several moments before snapping her slacked-jaw shut. Her blush spread all the way from her cheeks to her breasts. She couldn't deny it, but she sure as Hell wasn't going to admit to it out loud either!_

"_That's okay, my little mate. You don't have to say it. I know." He pulled the final sheet off of her, ignoring her shiver from the cold, and pulled his arms up under her back and legs to carry her. "I want you just as much."_

That's exactly why we're going to have problems_. She thought anxiously. _I'm bad enough on my own…if I know you want it as much as I do we're not going to be able to function by the end of a week!

_Still flushed, Bella lay passively in Jacob's arms as he carried her into the bathroom in her suite. As he shut the door behind them to keep the heat trapped inside she saw that he'd already prepared a bath. It was very shallow, though, with a padded footstool at one end submerged in the water. It was one of those combo, plastic-rubber monstrosities she sometimes saw sold in stores for the elderly to use while in the shower._

_She gave Jacob a confused look._

"_You need to keep your legs out of the water until those cuts have sealed enough. I'm going to give you a sponge-bath and help you get cleaned up this time." His eyes dared her to argue. She didn't have the strength or the heart to do so. He set her carefully onto her feet, which made her clench her teeth against the throbbing, but kept an arm around her waist._

"_Do you have to use the toilet, hun? If you do I'll walk out and give you a minute."_

"_Yes, please. I drank too much tea." Which was arguing with her body in more ways than one now. Her stomach had been uneasy before, but now that she'd had time to relax and calm down in addition to warming up she was starting to feel the nausea that the doctor had been talking about. She had no doubt that she'd end up throwing up at least once tonight._

_Jacob maneuvered her unresisting, naked body onto the toilet before he walked to the doors leading to her closet. "I'll get your robe. When you're done call me and I'll come back in and help you get cleaned up."_

_Bella did her absolutions in silence, making sure to clean herself well, and then called for Jake as he'd asked. She knew she would have been more reluctant under normal circumstances, but she honestly didn't think she could bathe herself this time. When the pain abated it would be a different story, though._

And when I can actually keep my eyes open for more than two minutes_._

_She was still too pooped to pout._

_Jacob set her robe, the same blue and silver one she'd worn before, over the opposite sink before coming to her. With gentility that still surprised her from such a big man he pulled her from the seat she'd had enough forethought to flush and set her down into the couple-inches deep water of the Jacuzzi tub. He positioned her calves carefully over the low stool, at the same time tipping her balance just enough that she had to lay back with her head to the bath pillow. She flared with color when he raked his eyes over her essentially helpless form and smirked devilishly._

"_I love that blush." He repeated, huffing a laugh at her embarrassment._

_Jacob used a soapy loofa to lather her body, paying a bit more attention to her breasts than she thought should be appropriate…though having him bathing her wasn't all that appropriate, either. When he instructed her she bent forward and used both of her hands to brace herself upwards by the legs of her weighted-down stool. Jake washed her back just as thoroughly, growling a few times when she bit her lip or whimpered where the bruises from her resuscitation were swiped by the loofa. When that, too, was done he proceeded to wash her hair with shampoo and conditioner._

"_You won't be able to shave your legs for a while. At least not until your cuts heal." _Oh great. I'm going to look like Chubaka from the hips down before my legs heal enough. I won't even be able to see that they've healed because of the hair!

_Jake boomed with laughter at her distraught face._

"_You'll be fine." He told her, his mirth not subsiding even when she glared at him. He wasn't one to talk. Except for his privates and his head the man didn't grow any amount of hair on his bronzed body._

"_Where's my dad?" She asked for a diversion when Jake had rinsed her hair out and stood her up._

"_He's at my dad's place. He'll be here at about ten o'clock, which is in a few minutes." He aided her out of the tub, making sure her feet were planted on the bathrug where they wouldn't feel the cold of the tile. "Your father called when he was on his way. He was going to get Billy before coming here. In light of your…accident they'll be staying here for the weekend."_

"_I'm sorry." She apologized demurely. "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble."_

"_You've done nothing wrong, Bella." His hands settled on her shoulders and shook subtly. She was thankful that his hold was so firm or she would have tipped onto her ass with the shaking. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for."_

_She was still sorry, though._

_Jacob splayed a towel out onto the counter before sitting her on it. He took the blow-dryer she'd found before and used it to dry her hair. He was supremely cautious as he worked a brush through her tresses and removed the knots. When he was done and was putting the dryer away she turned on her rump just enough to get a view of herself to see how bad she'd look in front of her father._

_The first thing she noticed was a pinkened mark on her neck where Jake had bitten her. She was amazed to see that the punctures left from his teeth were completely healed. Even James's bite had taken a full week to look half as healed as the wound on her neck was. She skimmed her fingers over it, finding that it was as smooth as the rest of her skin and emitted a slightly warmer heat than the rest of her did._

"_We're going to have Evy, Caleb, Daire, and Boone over tomorrow to talk more." Jacob told her as he eased her into her robe. "There's a lot of things we don't know. This is one of them." He touched her mark with one hand and his own with the other. "We don't know if it was my saliva or our connection that healed this. I didn't want to try it out with a cut on your leg to see because if it's not my saliva than I might just end up infecting that cut more."_

_She didn't say anything as she took in the rest of her form. Now that her hair was cleaned and manageable she didn't think she resembled a dried husk of a zombie _completely_, but her eyes were shadowed underneath from her exhaustion, her skin was paler than normal, and her lips had dry cracks in them from the salt. She didn't look like death-rolled-over, but neither could she be a poster-child for optimum health. She wouldn't be winning any beauty contests for a while._

Ha! Like I'd win them anyway?

"_Up you get." Her attention jerked back to Jacob, who'd taken her minute of contemplation to empty the tub, as he slipped in front of her and hoisted her up into his arms. She noted, too, that he'd changed into his earlier abandoned jeans so he was no longer naked. He carried her out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and right into the living room where her men were congregated. They brought all their focus onto her as soon as Jacob stepped into the overly large room._

_The same mark on Jacob's neck stood out in relief against all of their necks._

"_Set her here." Seth told Jake, indicating the comfortable looking nest that had been made on the couch. She quickly found herself buried into the mound of pillows with her quilt draped over her lap. The television was on, but nobody seemed to be paying a lick of attention to it._

"_Do you think you could stand to eat anything, sweetheart?" Jared asked her as he came to stand behind the couch and look down on her. "Are you hungry?"_

_Even the thought of food sickened her more. So she shook her head slowly. "No, I'm not hungry. My stomach's really sour right now."_

"_If you need anything you say the word, okay?" She bobbed her head gratefully, accepted the kiss he set to her forehead, and watched him move to the kitchen. She guessed that he and the others were hungry even though she wasn't._

_Bella drifted for a few minutes in her fabric wallow, her eyes shut against the dim lighting of the room. The guys talked over her in low voices pitched so that she wouldn't be disturbed. Their deeply resonant voices soothed and lulled her. She suspected that, given the time, she could live with them fairly easily._

Not now, though. I'm not ready for that now. I don't _want_ it now_._

_She wasn't the least bit startled by the front door opening with a bang some minutes later. Her father really wasn't the most considerate and understanding person when he was upset._

"_Bella?" His worried voice called out to her and made her shift on the couch until she could lever herself up enough to see over the backrest. He was just pushing Billy into the room still wearing his police uniform when he saw her. Tension immediately released its firm hold on his body._

"_Hi Dad. I'm fine." Quick. Simple. That would work best with her father._

_Charlie ignored the males in the room as well as Billy as he rounded the couch, bent over, and hugged the life out of her. Bella's eyebrows scrunched together and she bit her tongue to keep from crying out in pain as he embraced her abused back. Seeing her pain and responding to it Seth, the calmest of her men, set a hand on her father's shoulder._

"_Ease up a bit, Chief. She's a bit sore from the accident." Her father's face thinned out again, but did as he was bid._

"_How badly are you hurt, Bells?"_

"_I swallowed some water," she lightened that admission a fair bit from the full truth. He was worried enough already without her having to tell him that she had died for even a short amount of time. "My legs are scraped up pretty bad, but they don't need stitches. The guys got the Reservation doctor here and he says I might be sick, but that I'm okay. I have to pick up some medicine tomorrow for pain and to fight infection."_

"_Will you need to be out of school again?" He asked, more worried for her than her schooling. "You really shouldn't go back to Newton's if you're all cut up."_

"_I'll be back to school Monday." She assured him before her men could say anything. By their stern looks she knew that they didn't like the sound of that. They wanted her bundled up like a little baby, not trotting around like a normal girl her age. Yes, she'd drowned, she'd admit that, but she was alive now! They couldn't put her in a plastic bubble._

_Not without a fight, anyway._

"_I'll talk to Karen tomorrow at a descent hour. She's not going to be too happy with me, though." She wouldn't, either. Missus Newton was the Dragon-Lady sometimes. Lately she'd been crabby because Mike had been pitching the idea of finding a replacement for him at the store so he could enjoy his last months as a Senior without the pressure of working. So, in the end, Bella was taking the brunt of the woman's frustrations unto herself._

_She'd be lucky to still have her job if she had to call in 'sick'._

_Bella knew without a shadow of a doubt that her wolves would be overjoyed if she never had to return to the Outfitters to get behind the counter._

"_She'll get over it, Bells. Your health is more important than that job anyway." Charlie patted her shoulder before taking an evacuated seat nearby. His eyes finally took in the room and she registered the surprise on his face. He whistled appreciatively._

"_Nice place. I remember the outside from when me and Billy were kids, but I'd never seen the inside."_

"_It's beautiful, Dad. You should have one of the guys take you on a tour." She glanced at Billy, about to give him a welcoming smile, but saw that his concentration was centered on the marks on the guys' necks. She cleared her throat, wincing at the rawness, and addressed the handicapped man. "Have you seen the insides, Billy? Since the guys' renovated everything?"_

"_Uhm," the elder Native man, too, cleared his throat. He patted his leg absently as he tried to give her his attention while still darting glances to the marked necks. "Yes, yes. Jacob's shown me pictures and brought me by a few times already."_

"_Well that's good!" She managed to sound chipper even through her fatigue._

_When she yawned her men sat up ramrod straight. Bella looked to her father remorsefully. She pulled the robe tighter over her chest. "I'm sorry. I'm really tired. The doctor gave me medicine before he left and it's kind of wiping me out."_

"_Then you should get to bed." The chief of police claimed forcefully. "I'll be staying here in case you need me. I don't think I'll go out to the show tomorrow…"_

"_Daddy," she snapped in her ragged voice. Her parent stiffened automatically at the tone she'd used. "I. Am. Fine. I'm tired and sore, not useless. You can still go with the others to see all the shiny cars. I won't be alone. You _know_ that."_

_After throwing a pensive look to each young man in the room he sighed gustily._

"_Yeah. I do know that."_

"_Come on, Bella," Seth cooed to her as he moved up to where she lay. "I'll get you into bed. Maybe while you settle down Jake could show your dad around and to where he'll be sleeping?"_

"_Sure sure." Charlie murmured, unwittingly using the Black-family motto. Well, not motto exactly, but especially favored phrase. She wasn't surprised that he'd used it. He and Billy had grown up together. Mannerisms tended to get adopted regularly between close friends, especially when they treated each other like brothers._

"_I love you, Bells." Her father whispered as he stood from his seat and kissed her forehead before Seth could collect her. She raised her weak arms just enough to give the man a slight, one-sided hug. Before pulling away she gave him a copying kiss to his cheek._

"_I love you, too, Daddy."_

"_Come on, Charlie. I'll show you around inside." Jake gestured towards the kitchen where Jared was still hidden. He tossed her a loving stare. "Sweet dreams, honey."_

_She flushed a little as Seth hauled her with delicacy into his strong arms. "G'night."_

"'_Night Bella," echoed from her men all around the room, even the kitchen. The looks they gave her over Seth's shoulder were clear. Without words they assured her that they loved her, their eyes flashing singularly yellow with their wolves. Her insides always fluttered when they let her see their inner animals. It was arousing and heart-warming at the same time._

_Seth's arms retracted from her body as soon as they entered her room and she was positioned on her bed. His hands worked diligently at first her robe, unknotting the tie around her waist so that it wouldn't disturb her in her sleep. Her hand fluttered over his tiredly, nervousness making her move automatically to remove his hands from her person. He paid her no mind. After that was done he settled a hand to her still covered chest to keep her down on the mattress while his free hand lifted the blankets back over her body. He settled the mass just below her chin, tucked her in, and then smiled beatifically down at her._

_Her eyes, heavy and all-too-willing to slide shut for an undisclosed amount of time, trained in on the mark she'd somehow left on his neck. A frown marred her face._

"_No no." Seth cooed to her, his right hand scooping up along her neck so that he could fondly cradle the bite Jake had given her. Once again she felt the mimicking beat in the mark as she'd felt when Jake touched it. "Don't be sad, babygirl."_

"_I didn't mean to." She whispered. Her head sunk into her pillow helplessly as Seth bent forward to place a lingering, sweet kiss to her lips._

"_Don't worry about it now, okay?" He whispered into her lips when he'd released them. His fingers stroked her neck faintly, easing her discomfort. "Just get some sleep, little one. We're not leaving you. We'll talk tomorrow when you're feeling better."_

"_M'kay," she mumbled, drifting into a sea of calm and darkness._

_She thought, just maybe, before she completely drifted off to sleep that felt teeth nip at her mark and hushed words of piety being whispered into her right ear._

* * *

><p>She'd woken up three times during the night before that morning to throw up into the toilet. Each time one of her men had been there to get her into the bathroom in time and held back her hair so that it would be out of her way. Each time her body had given in to the temptation to cry while her defenses were down. And each time, subsequently, she'd been cuddled, had a cool washcloth run over her tear-streaked face, and then put back to bed in a slightly elevated position where she coughed what remained of the water in her lungs up. That coughing and the acrid taste of saltwater just triggered her gag reflex all over again.<p>

By breakfast she still felt like shit, but a little more human since she could breathe semi-normally through her raw throat.

Sam had helped her walk on her own feet out into the dining room where Billy and her father were seated. A plate of plain scrambled eggs and dry toast awaited her. She thanked Embry, who'd cooked that morning, for his consideration of her recovering stomach and throat, and then dug into her food. Having relieved herself of all those delicious fries from the day before she felt half-starved.

Barely an hour after saying goodbye to her father, assuring him that she would be fine at the cabin with the guys watching over her, both Issa and Evy had shown up bearing gifts and over-protective males. Soon after they were, all three, situated in her bedroom in front of a roaring fireplace.

"We'll be outside on patrol." Jake had informed them as he swaddled her in blankets that she had every intention of throwing off the moment they were gone. Brady and Collin hovered over Issa anxiously, their normal banter and easy-going attitudes vanished in face of she and Evy's 'accident'. She'd need to tell them about Victoria soon. Very soon. Evy's men, Caleb primarily, readied Evy as much as Jacob prepped her for their departure. "If you girls need anything you call out. We'll be here in a flash."

"Will you be all right, Princess?" Quil asked softly into her temple, one of his hands touching her mark and the other massaging her burning arm. That damn shot made it damn near impossible for her to even lift her appendage. It hurt worse than her legs!

"Yes. Now go!" She waved them all off with her hands. "Go have your wolf-time. Us girls need to talk and y'all will only get in our way."

"Are all imprints this fiery?" Brady asked with a laugh, pecking Issa on her scalp despite her huffing that she didn't want him touching her.

"They need to be fiery to keep up with us." Boone smirked at their seated forms before bowing dramatically. All of them wore only jeans or cut-offs so the rippling of his muscles was apparent to Bella. Had she not loved her own wolves she knew that she might have been attracted to Evy's men enough to pursue any one of them had they been single.

As it was she was quite amiable to being a taken woman.

"Farewell, ladies. We'll be back in time for lunch. We'll make you something nice."

"We can make our own lunch, Boone." Evy retorted simply, already fidgeting in the cocoon she'd been wrapped in. Issa was hiding her laughter behind her hand. Neither she nor Evy missed that and scowled at the darker-skinned girl.

"Of course you can," Boone hummed sarcastically before swiping his hand through her curly red hair.

"Cut it out!" She hollered, her eyes lighting up from within with her increasing annoyance.

"Just go, please." Bella sighed. They had to figure out a way to get control of all of these men before they lost their minds. She honestly didn't know how Evy had lasted the past four years with her men.

"Sure thing, Button." Paul was the first to kiss her lips, steadfastly ignoring or uncaring of the other girls in the room, and then leaving through her French doors. The others mimicked him, all of them stroking her neck tenderly, before abandoning them to their 'play'. Issa's and Evy's men did the same with them, though Issa put up much more of a hissing-fit with Brady and Collin than either she or Evy did with their men.

"Do you hate them or something?" Evy had asked once they were safely alone, shrugging off most of her blankets with cool efficiency. Bella did the same with her own.

"No," Issa sighed, running her hands through her braided hair. "I don't hate them, but I don't…I didn't plan for this. It scares me. When I'm scared I turn into a sarcastic bitch. I guess it's my safety mechanism."

"They'll break through it, you know?" Evy questioned the darker girl gently. Her eyes were glistening. "A Shapeshifter really is made for his mate just like you're made for them. We can all be happy without them, but we'll never be our best. They, well, as cliché as it sounds they are our soul-mates."

And thus their conversations had started. An hour had evolved into two and then three. Issa had even taken the liberty of raiding the freezer for ice-cream, though Bella had declined in favor of a better substitute for her stomach. It was pleasing to discover that the guys had stocked up on applesauce and bananas for her.

Bella jotted down the last of the 'Mate's Guide to Living With Shapeshifters' on the couple of pages she'd used from her English notebook. The guys would return in an hour or so to feed them, but for now they were content with themselves and their chatter.

"Okay, what do we have?" Larissa asked as she tugged the notebook partially out of Bella's lap. Out of them all she had the neatest penmanship, so she'd been elected to do the writing. She winced through most of it since she was right-handed and that doctor had given her the shot from Hell in that same arm.

_Oh well. Fight through the pain_. The inner her shrugged her shoulders inelegantly. Bella thought she was a hypocrite because even her inner self winced at any movement to her arm.

"Guide One;" Issa read aloud, her tone mockingly serious, "The sleeping habits of Shapeshifters tend to vary upon the stresses of their days, but when ensconced in the nest/den with its mate, it is unwise to disturb the sleeping animal.

"I have to ask again…seriously?" This was one of the 'rules' that Issa was having the hardest time with. As a spirited and highly independent girl with fire in her eyes, Issa couldn't stand the idea of sharing a bed with any man. She'd confessed to that being the reason why, at least for the most part, she didn't want Brady and Collin's advances on her. She truly believed that she would be better off without a man, or men, in her life.

_Yeah_, the inner her snorted with mirth. She inwardly swirled a lock of hair around her finger amusedly. _Can't wait until she realizes how futile it is to fight against any of the guys, let alone when they've teamed up together. Brady and Collin have had help from my guys on how to remain tuned into each other and gotten tips on how to 'corral a skittish female'. She's more screwed than I ever was._

Larissa could fight it all she liked, but eventually she would give in to them like she and Evy already had. The physical attraction they each felt to their men in no way hindered the bond that would flourish between them.

"Yep." Evy grabbed another pint of ice-cream, this one Chunky Monkey, and dove right into it with a wide smile. Bella knew they'd get reamed for eating so unhealthy once their men got home, but it'd be a fair price to pay to enjoy their Ben & Jerry's. "Shapeshifters are a stubborn breed of male…if they want sleep, they get it. It's only worse when they have a mate because no matter what their 'species' is they have a pack mentality that centers around her. If she isn't happy, neither are they."

"They're pains in the ass." Bella interrupted smoothly, taking a bite out of her banana. It wasn't as good as the frozen delicacy her friends were delighting in, but it would suffice until her stomach felt more at ease. "They also put you to bed like you're a toddler if they think you need it. Believe me on _that_ one. They're too big to fight against, anyway."

"If those two dimwits try doing that to me I'll castrate them." Evy and Bella shared at look at the frustrated expression on their city friend's face. It was going to take some doing for Issa to let the two boys into her life and Bella couldn't help but think that when she gave in to the inevitable she would be in need of comforting. Those boys, knowingly or not, would be tearing down the walls of piss and vinegar she hid behind for years.

"Hn," Bella said noncommittally, nibbling on her banana.

"Okay, Guide Two;" Evy snatched the paper away from them deftly. She held the sheets aloft, just barely out of smearing distance of her ice-cream. "The feeding of a Shapeshifter is an arduous task, but can be completed with minimum fuss if the proper supplies are made available." She shot a look at Bella disbelievingly. "Is that one really necessary? I mean, really? They're all built like tanks. Of course they're going to eat like pigs."

"You're the one who said we should write this as if it was a Shapeshifter's Guide for Dummies. So there you go!" She waved petulantly at the papers before snuggling back into her blankets. She was beginning to get the chills again. "What's next?"

"Guide Three; No matter the species, Shapeshifters are known to be highly territorial creatures. It is in the best interest of all outside parties to maintain a respectable distance from a claimed or un-claimed mate to keep unpredictable and unfavorable behavior to a minimum."

"How many species are there, anyway?" Issa wondered aloud, her brows scrunched up. Evy shrugged negligently.

"I don't know. I know the most common species are the canines, mainly wolves, felines, mainly panthers, leopards, tigers, and lions, and then there are bears like the Grizzlies. Beyond that are the 'rarer' breeds. Foxes, alligators or crocodiles, and I think there are some falcon-types out there, too."

"All predators." Bella noted.

Evy chuckled. "Well, you wouldn't exactly picture vampires fearing a doe, would you?"

Bella broke out into uncontrollable laughter that that. She couldn't help herself. Oh no, no vampire would shake in their boots at the sight of Bambi. The Cullens ate Bambi and his mother, after all! True, they preferred the wilder faire, but they really had little choice in their diets when the need became prevalent. One eats what's available when hungry.

"How big are the bears? Have you seen any bear Shifters before? I mean our guys are massive and they're only wolves." The city-girl remarked with intelligence, her hands busying themselves with the book of photos Evy had brought with her. In it were images of many different men, some with a woman with them, some without. All of them were grand in size like their men though they ranged in looks. There were men with pale skin and blonde hair, dark-skinned with black, tanned with brown, and everything in between.

Evy said they were all Shapeshifters she and her men had met in their Wandering.

"Yeah. Kody and Tristan were Kodiak bears. They were as big as the other Shapeshifters in human form, probably closer to Jacob in height, but their bears weren't as big in difference to regular bears. Only so much mass can be condensed into their human selves after all."

"That makes sense." Issa conceded, her eyes taking in the photos not for the first time since they'd been left alone.

"Alphas are always the biggest Shifters, too. Even if the other Species, like bears, are comparatively bigger than the wolves Alphas were designed to pack more of a punch. Your men, Bella, are the biggest males I've ever seen." Bella nodded sedately at Evy's almost reverent words.

_Jake's seven foot…yeah, he's a big boy. I'd be afraid to hear that there are bigger men out there. May God have Mercy on the woman that gets saddled with men as big…or bigger…than mine._

"Guide Four;" Bella read off their information packet simply, "Shapeshifters are very active creatures, needing a bare minimum of six hours of physical activity every day to counteract the side effects of their boosted metabolisms, stamina, and superhuman endurance."

That one was a no-brainer as well. The animals in Shapeshifters were just that…animals. One couldn't cage an animal up for very long without harming the animal detrimentally. Maybe not physically, though that would be altered as well, but mentally. It would drive them just as Mad as lacking the other half of their souls that was their mate would.

"Guide Five;" she continued primly, "It is well known that Shapeshifters are excessively dependent upon their mates. As a result, the mate is often doted upon to the extreme and rendered incapable, by the Shapeshifter mate, to do anything for themselves if said task can be accomplished by the more 'capable' of the mating pair/group (translation: the Shapeshifter)."

"For example…" Evy gestured towards she and Bella, her brows raised mockingly with her lips drawn in a tight line.

"Yeah." Bella scowled, her eyes alighting on the cellphones sitting pseudo-innocently on the table beside them. At any moment the things could go off with their men on the other end of the line demanding to know if they were all right. Issa didn't have it as bad as she or the red-head quite yet, but she would.

"Give me this. You two are such whiners." Larissa ripped the Guide from them and set it over the pictures haphazardly.

"Call us whatever you want now," Bella warned evilly, her tone laced with impatience, "but you'll get yours soon enough. You won't be laughing then."

"Whatever." The paler girls decided to humor, or rather ignore, the darker girl's flippancy. She'd see for herself.

"Guide Six; when suffering from either illness or injury it is deemed in the mate's best interest to permit unrestricted attention by their Shapeshifter(s) in order to recover more quickly and thereby remove themselves from the 'watch bed'."

"No shit." Bella and Evangeline echoed snottily.

"You're the ones that put that in here." Larissa laughed gaily. As sick as it was, Bella wished her friend would get hurt just a little bit to see how it felt to be swaddled in cotton like a helpless baby. She'd only ever faced Brady and Collin when they were pervy or indulgent. She _needed_ a taste of what their over-protective wolf sides were like.

_A paper-cut. That's all I ask. One little paper-cut and she'll be in for a rude awakening_.

"Moving on…" Bella urged grumpily.

"Guide Seven; Shapeshifters are notoriously clean creatures, desiring a hot bath at least once but up to three times in a day. This habitual cleanliness also carries over to the care and hygienic wellness of the chosen mate." Bella had had that one added in, with her red-haired friend's urging, after her 'bath' the previous night. Her cheeks now flamed to think back on it. "Guide Eight; While Shapeshifters are normally loving, devoted, and narrowly too affectionate towards their mates, it is clear that misbehavior is not welcomed or tolerated when it comes to said mate. Punishment is readily supplied and applied to a deserving mate until the Shapeshifter believes the point has been made and their mate is sufficiently repentant.

"Okay, I really don't get this one." Larissa flicked her fingers at the corners of the page in agitation. "What do you two mean by 'punishment'? You can't seriously expect me to believe they'd beat us. Jesus! They're just big puppies."

"Spankings." She and Evy mimed each other despairingly. When Evy's head dropped in apparent embarrassment Bella decided to fill their clueless friend in. "To them a spanking is the perfect way to teach us mates a lesson. I imagine they know it'll hurt like a bitch, but leave no lasting marks physically."

"You've let them spank you?" Issa cried indignantly.

"Fuck no!" Evy shouted. Bella was sufficiently startled by the ferociousness in her normally shy and timid friend. Evy rarely showed the amount of enthusiasm, in a negative way, as she was doing now. She was kind of frightening when she was in a huff. "I sure as shit never _let_ my men spank me. I've been hauled over their knees forcefully every time. You better know I'd never, _ever_ willingly go to someone asking to get my ass beat raw. And I'm not fucking apologizing for whatever they think I've done wrong to deserve a spanking!"

After a long minute of just glaring at each other Evy sighed deeply and seemed to curl back up into her shell. Bella touched her shoulder in support earning a small, grateful smile in return.

"I've only ever had a few swats." Bella informed Issa carefully. She was as unwelcoming of the idea of anyone taking to her rump as if she was a disobedient child again as either girl was. "It wasn't good and I know they mean it when they say they'll do it if I push them too far. This isn't a game, Larissa. What Brady and Collin mean for you is real and what they say is no joke. I've learned that much from my own men."

Heavy silence descended over them as Larissa steadfastly ignored them both. Her lips were pursed tightly shut and her eyes looked a little watery. Bella had to bite her lip to keep from getting up off of the mound of pillows she'd been set into to hug the larger girl. She refrained, though.

_She'll come to me, and maybe Evy, when she's ready to talk. Pushing now's just going to make things worse_. She thought a little morosely.

"You wanted to know about the mating marks earlier, right Bella?" Evy's softly spoken question drew her attention away from the outwardly crumbling wall Issa was so vainly attempting to repair.

"Uhm, yeah, I did." Absently she skimmed her fingers over the healed bite mark on her neck. "You don't have one…not that I can see, anyway. And I'm worried about the guys with what I left on them." Evangeline grinned at her benevolently. It made her flush anew.

"Caleb marked me as theirs on my shoulder, but pulled further onto my back. Usually you can't see mine unless I wear more open shirts. It's usually an instinct that has the 'alpha' of each pack marking a certain spot. Beyond that I can't explain, and they probably can't either, why you were marked at the juncture and nowhere else.

"And Caleb told me about what you did to them when we first showed up and Seth met us at the door. Caleb says only an Induja can do that. It deals with their innate ability to harness their energy and transfer it to their Shapeshifters. It's like your own mark on them. It binds you closer to each other than regular mates. The Induja in Quebec I told you about is very in-tuned with her men. Sometimes she acted as if she could read their thoughts."

Bella paled. "Oh God! No! I don't want to hear anything in their heads!" She slammed her hands over her ears for emphasis. She really didn't want to be in their minds. It wasn't only because she wanted them to have their privacy, but also because they were men. Men had less-than-wholesome thoughts about eighty percent of the time and she'd prefer to have only her own inner slut to listen to instead of all of theirs.

Fidgeting in her makeshift seat Bella sighed deeply. With a flick of her wrist she flung her blankets from her torso and legs so that she could stand. She did so with several winces and a single hiss of pain.

"Where are you going?" Evy and Issa mimicked each other with wide eyes. She rolled her own brown ones. It seemed that no matter if they were wolves or mates everyone still panicked over her taking care of herself.

_What a pain_.

"I have to use the bathroom and I refuse to just sit here and call one of the guys for help when I can do it myself." With that she limped her way into her bathroom, cursing the fact that it was so far away.

Her legs were really beginning to hurt.

She closed the door behind her once she hit the bathroom and slumped gratefully onto the porcelain seat. She did her business quickly and rose back onto her feet to clean her hands, not the least bit surprised when three sharp knocks blasted into the door followed by its opening.

"What do you think you're doing?" Paul demanded hotly, storming up behind her like a man possessed, plucking her up off of her feet, and spinning her around to set her on the counter. He snatched the washcloth she'd wetted from her fingers and proceeded to rub her fingers and palms clean on his own.

"Going to the bathroom." She returned cheekily. He scowled at her darkly.

"You're too weak."

"Too weak to go pee?" She volleyed petulantly. His frown only drew down deeper. A frustrated growl poured from his throat and chest as he moved to her other hand. He showed infinite care with her despite his irritation with her mouth. He was always soft with her.

"Don't get smart with me, Bella." He rinsed out the cloth before placing it over its dirty-chromed stand that matched the decor. He then bracketed both hands on either side of her hips, his face inches from hers. His breath fanned over her face making her a little dizzy. "We lost you, Bella. You weren't just hurt…you died, Button."

His head moved forward, slowly, so that he could nuzzle his nose and lips into her mark. A shiver skated through her body at the feeling. Her hands shook where they lay placidly in her lap. His tongue licked over the heated flesh of the bite making her whimper.

Very suddenly the erotic nuzzling turned into something else. Paul's hands moved so that he could cup the back of her head with one and brace her bottom with the other. He tugged her flush into his front, his body shaking almost as much as her hands were. He sniffed at the column of her neck, occasionally placing tender kisses to it. Even seated on the counter as she was with her legs spread a little painfully around his waist his hold felt child-like…wanting. Needing.

"Don't leave." Paul whispered into her neck, his voice cracking in a way she'd never heard from him before. It startled her immensely. "I couldn't live without you. Please, please don't leave me. Not again."

Her startle shifted to a complete scare when she felt wetness meet her jaw. Paul Lahote, her daring, hot-headed wolf, the one who was so gruff on the outside, was crying! He sniffled a tad into her. On reflex she brought her arms up around him, hugging him to her chest as surely as he was holding onto her. His chest heaved in little pants as he sobbed into her.

"Shh," she hushed him softly, kissing the back of his scalp. She rubbed her hands into the tensed muscles of his back soothingly. "I'm right here. Shh."

She wasn't too taken off guard when she was pulled off of the sink entirely and set down into his lap as he sat on the floor. He crossed his legs providing a warm, albeit hard seat for her rump while her legs were spun off to one side so that the bandages and cuts wouldn't stretch and crack open as they would have had she had them strewn about his oversized girth. In this position she was significantly lower and had to settle for placing her head against his bare chest as he rested his cheek against the top of her head.

Bella let Paul cuddle her and take comfort from her presence in relative silence, only speaking up occasionally to murmur reassurances into his chest.

She knew well that Paul hadn't had an abusive childhood. No one beat him at home or touched him inappropriately, but he'd been neglected for sure. He'd told her as much in lesser words. He'd grown up a lot like she had, only he wasn't taking care of others, just himself. He'd raised himself and grown bitter. He had his own inner scars as she did and he suffered for them. The incident would have only just pushed him over the edge. It was like Evy had told them. He was linked to her and if she died…he wouldn't survive it. As frightening as it was to think it, she was the light in his life and anything that happened to her, good or bad, affected him ten-fold.

She couldn't be the cause for his pain. She wouldn't be able to stand it.

She didn't know how long they'd been sitting there when he finally eased his hold on her. It hadn't been uncomfortably tight, but wiggling wasn't an option, either. She was immobile. He'd been using her like a child might use a teddy bear. Cuddling all of his sorrow away into her softness.

"You okay?" She asked sensitively, glancing up at him through her lashes. He grinned down at her with the most endearing, gentle smile she'd ever seen. His eyes were still a little red, but that leach of color was disappearing rapidly.

"I'm just fine." His right hand brushed over her cheek caressingly before he stood to his feet, startling a gasp from her when he brought her up with him. He chortled at her. She glared.

"Jerk," she muttered.

"Jake's making you lunch. Let's get you out to the others and comfy." His legs ate up the distance between her bathroom and the living room like nothing. She didn't so much as shake in his arms with his smooth movements. It would never cease to amaze her that such large men could move with as much grace as a ballerina.

_Nope, won't phrase it that way within hearing distance of them. I'll end up tickled to the edge of my sanity!_

The girls and their men were already seated out at the dining table. Bella was settled into the 'head' seat carefully, swiftly covered by a quilt over her lap by Seth. She raised a brow at her youngest mate, but didn't toss the quilt off. Undoubtedly they'd just set it back over her as soon as she was free of it.

"How are you, babygirl?" Seth queried as he pulled two prescription bottles from his pocket. Her eyes bugged out to see it. She hadn't even remembered needing to pick the cursed things up. Seth beamed down at her, handing her two little green pills, and a larger pale yellow one. "Take these when Jake brings out the food. The pharmacist told me it's best for you to take them with food and not on an empty stomach."

"What are they exactly?" Bella tried warily, setting the pills onto the table beside her empty plate and grabbing up the bottles he positioned on the table in front of her. She glanced briefly at the names before reading the dosage information. She'd need to go back to the pharmacy later to give them her health card, one she shared with her father, and get the guys reimbursed for the medication. It couldn't have been cheap.

"The green ones are for infection. The yellow is a mild pain-killer. Evy has the same stuff, don't you Evy?" Seth smirked at where Evy sat, receiving the same set of medication from Daire. Bella guessed by the wrinkled nose that Evy was about as pleased as she was to have gotten her medicine.

_Yeah, not at all_, the inner her snorted grumpily.

"Is there any chance at all of getting away with just taking the ones for infection and not the pain-killer?" She wondered aloud, not liking the idea of the yellow pill knocking her on her ass as most pain-killers tended to. She didn't want to be unconscious _all_ the time even if she was still a little tired from the night before.

"None." Her men confirmed in a stern chorus.

_Damn_.

Caleb chuckled, sipping at a Root-Beer on his side of the table as near to Evy as he could get. Some of their men weren't seated at the table, but were still clustered around her and the other females closely. "It's always nice to be around Pack. Sometimes I forget what it's like with just Evy and my brothers."

"Are we a lot like others you've met?" Bella asked of him when Jacob came out of the kitchen bearing trays of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. He set the food down onto the table, retreated to the kitchen, and came back to her with several choices of yogurt, all of which she knew would be easier on her stomach. "Thank you," she hushed, earning a lingering kiss to her brow in return.

"Very." Boone inserted helpfully, serving up a sandwich and bowl for Evy before he even considered himself. "It's always nice to run with other wolves and being around other mated females makes Evy feel more normal and welcomed. You're the first mated group we've seen this large, though."

"Is that weird?" Bella eyed the three pills sitting by her plate peevishly before groaning and giving in. She highly doubted that if she put up a fight that she'd be able to not take the evil little things. One of her men would just force it down her throat…essentially. They would never hurt her, but she knew damned well she'd end up swallowing those pills with their coaxing.

"No, Induja. It isn't weird. Just not common." Daire grinned at her nearly as softly as he did his red-haired mate. It pleased her. These men didn't look at her like Brady and Collin had from the start before they shifted and imprinted on Issa.. They didn't show her disgust in any form. "We've been told that the number of shifters a mate has is related to how in-touch she is with her energies and how much they are needed by their mate. We've Wandered for many years and from the mated groups we've met it seems to make some sense. Regularly mated groups have only two or three Shifters. As Induja it stands to reason that you'd have more."

"How old are you?" She queried suddenly, swallowing a spoonful of yogurt.

"Thirty-five." The mimed each other.

She about choked on her own spit. Her men glared at the three, Brady and Collin adding support to their superiors by growling at the trio, while she regained her breath and they chuckled.

"I told you they can live a long time." Evy giggled around a mouthful of her sandwich. "My men are kinda young, actually. Yours are babies! Most of the Shifters we've met don't find their mate until they hit fifty or so!"

"That's just creepy. First wolf-boys, now old men." Despite the harshness of the words, Issa's quaint smile lightened the remark considerably. Bella shook her head. The snarky-Issa was back in control again.

"Who you calling babies, little girl?" Jared waggled his eyebrows at her after looking her over exaggeratedly. "You're no bigger than a finger-bone."

"Are you calling me short?" The paler girl cried indignantly.

"If the tape-measure fits."

"Daire, go punch his face in." Bella laughed outright when the other girl widened her eyes, pouted her lips, and leaned towards the short-haired male. She had pulled out the puppy eyes. "Pretty-please with sprinkles on top?"

"Do I have a 'get me killed' sign on my forehead?" He chucked back instead of giving in to her devious and over-acted pout. Evy harrumphed melodramatically. Daire took pity on her, bent forward, and kissed her cheek platonically. "You wanna smack him, you go right ahead, Pumpkin. I'll nurse you back to health when you realize your little hands can't do more than embarrass him with their efforts."

"Caleb, punch Daire's face in!"

Isabella Swan chuckled into her yogurt, her eyes alight as she eyed the people in the room as they dissolved into easy bantering. She couldn't help but feeling like she was at home here. Like she finally had the family she'd always wanted and craved more than anything.

So caught up in the euphoria of their easy companionship, though, that she forgot entirely about telling her men about Victoria.

Had she known what was to come she might have fought harder with her memory to reveal such things to her men…

…She was going to regret it later.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hi all! Sorry about the delayed update. Things kept popping up every time I tried updating and I was only just able to get to it now. I hope y'all like the 'informative' chapter.

Now, I have to clear something up…

In _**'Chapter Five: Discoveries'**_ the guys tell Old Quil and Billy Black that they think they are idiots for even mentioning that they all claim Bella in succession. They understand that she is too small and a virgin nonetheless and with seven men (all nearly seven feet tall and packing) she wouldn't survive…and if she did it would certainly scar her BADLY. _**Sweetdreams1**_ quoted the scene in her review and I suggest you read back through the story or check her review for Chapter Twenty-One if you have questions on it.

I was **NOT **going to put Bella through that. Will all her men eventually have her? Yes, but not immediately. She is still young and fairly untried…pushing her for sex like that would **NOT **be good. The guys would not hurt Bella that way.

**ALSO**...the Mate's Guide to Shapeshifters will be a story sequence after The Pack Imperative is finished. Please be patient with that, though, as it will not be coming out for a while/until TPI is finished.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Review at your leisure and please keep the language clean when replying (especially to each other). I do not mind cursing so long as it is not used in a derogative way towards me or another reader.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	24. Chapter 23: Knowing

**Notes****:** There's a few…

**FIRSTLY**, I'm sorry about the very late update. There was a terrible accident recently that kept me away from writing. I intend to keep with The Pack Imperative as much as I can, but if updates are slow at times I hope that you can be understanding. I'm trying to get through this and my writing is a major stress-reliever, but for at least a few more months I'm not going to fully be 'with it'. I will try my damndest, though, to keep the chapters coming out as quickly as I can get them.

**SECONDLY**, all of the 'juicy' scenes that would be rated 'MA/Mature' have been plugged out of the story, but IS available in the full, on a few ulterior sites (Jacob Black N Pack, Impassionate Magic, and Tricky Raven…all .ning sites). If you want the lemons I'm afraid you'll have to go there thanks to 's latest round of deleting for 'improper' content. You can see my profile for further details on that. TPI will still be updated here, just not with the full scenes.

**THIRDLY**, To who posted 'UnusualCircumstances' review, I do owe credit for the facts on drowning-recovery, but forgot to post that in an author's note on the bottom of the last chapter. I still do have your first review and while, no, you did not cuss in your review, you were crass/ruse in how you addressed things, just as your last review is. Had you had an account and I could reply to you via that, I would not be doing this in such a public way. I in no way, shape, or form take credit for something that is not mine and will give any credit I can to those who help me (if I forget something than feel free to point that out to me and I will have the issue addressed and give credit where it's due). Any other 'problems' you had were going to be addressed later if you were patient enough to read each chapter as it comes.

**FOURTHLY**, Thank you to all the ladies on Tricky Raven, JBNP, and Impassionate Magic who have given me all the support I've needed recently. Just knowing you girls have my back and were/are there for me in these hard times means more to me than anything! So thank you!

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.

* * *

><p>Chapter Twenty-Three: Knowing<p>

"I don't need help getting the peaches, damn it!" Paul chuckled good-naturedly at the growled frustration in Bella's voice.

She was the cutest thing this side of the Rockies to him.

Despite her obvious irritation his mate was suffering Paul continued to hover over and around her, reaching out to take the things she would have grabbed on her own or lending support to her miniscule frame when she leaned over the produce counter to grab various greens. His left hand flexed subtly over her flat stomach while she twirled the plastic baggie full of peaches to her preference.

_She feels skinnier_, he thought with no small amount of disgust. His precious mate, he was sure, was dwindling down to nothing. Fairly soon a stiff wind would be able to knock her over. He didn't like that thought. He wanted his woman to have meat on her bones. He wished for her to look completely healthy again.

_She's nervous_. Seth interjected into his mind solemnly. Paul didn't even twitch an eyebrow. He'd gotten used to sharing his mind with his brothers while in wolf form so it wasn't so different now to hear any one of them in his 'human' mind. _She's worked up and isn't eating well because of it_.

He knew that.

They all did.

Isabella Swan belonged to them. She was their mate. Their Induja. Their Alpha female. She was the center of their pack and their entire world. There wasn't a single thing that she did any longer that they weren't aware of. Paul suspected that any one of them could tell her doctor how many times her heart beat in a minute, at rest or active, or even how many times she brushed her own hair until it was tangle-free.

_Answers…in chronological order…ninety-four beats, one-hundred and ninety-three, and sixty-seven_. Jared added as if in confirmation.

Thus he and his brothers were well aware of the fact that Bella was uneasy about _something_. They had thought that it had been because of the accident at the pier where they'd…lost her, but even after the two weeks it had taken her wounds to fully heal she was still acting strangely. She flinched at loud noises, stared off into space at odd times, and had taken to looking over her shoulder on occasion. It was as if she was afraid of someone…_something_…coming after her.

He was disturbed.

Bella refused to talk to them about it. She simply ducked her eyes and mumbled that it was nothing but her imagination whenever they confronted her about her behavior. Their Prime had become so unnerved by her unease that he'd put two wolves out to guard Bella when she wasn't immediately with any of them in human form over the regular one. Paul didn't fault him in the least bit. He himself was becoming a tad paranoid over her safety. Suppressing the urge to swaddle the girl and tuck her away in the shelter of his arms somewhere where no one and nothing could get to her was difficult on its own. Adding fuel to the fire was just giving him an ache in his jaw from clenching it so hard whenever anyone came too near to his mate.

He saw everyone as an enemy.

His eyes raked over her back and buttocks as she scooted behind the cart once more. He didn't know why she bothered to try and push it herself. He'd easily commandeered the metal contraption the instant they'd entered the grocery store so that she wouldn't need do any physical labor besides swinging her pretty little ass in front of him as she picked out what she wanted and he loaded it into the cart.

_Persistent little thing_, he thought fondly as she ignored his larger arms which bracketed her delicate body. He found it adorable how her brows scrunched up slightly over the bridge of her nose when she was inwardly fuming.

He pecked her scalp purely for scientific reasons. Every action got an equal and opposite reaction and all that jazz. So that meant that his sweetness would be countered with…

"Stop it!" She growled huffily, stomping her right foot down onto the insole of his own. He didn't flinch. He chuckled, which only aggravated her further. "I am not shopping with you anymore. Do you hear me Paul Lahote? Never! You are such a pain in my ass."

"Ooh," he taunted in a sing-song voice, ignoring her squeal of indignity when he darted his head forward to lick her temple without the threat of anyone seeing, "I didn't know you swung that way, Button. Who in their right mind could pass up an invitation like that?"

It took her several long seconds to make heads or tails of what he'd meant. He knew the instant she caught the accidental innuendo she'd brought onto herself when her pale cheeks flushed brightly and the starchy scent of humiliation trickled into his nostrils. The elbow she shot into his solar-plexus for his mouth only helped him to recognize her embarrassment.

_Spirits, Paul!_ Seth barked in his mind. _Leave her the fuck alone. She was a virgin until two weeks ago and she's our mate. Show her some damned respect._

_I'll do more than respect her,_ he leered inwardly to his brother. _I'll worship her body from here until the end of time. What is that saying? Oh, yes, her body is my temple!_

_Shut the fuck up, man!_ Paul felt his brother's wolf tickling at the surface, or rather gnawing at it, baying to be unleashed. He'd become almost as accustomed to his brothers and their inner wolves as he was to his own. So, knowing that his youngest Alpha-brother was reaching the snapping point, he withdrew his mental sword and conceded defeat. Seth was the most genteel of them when it came to Bella, narrowly submissive at times, and took offense to any slight to her, teasing or not, more so than any of them did.

Of course he knew his own boundaries.

His little one was his divine mate. She came first in every aspect of his life and while he enjoyed ruffling her feathers on occasion he would never intentionally hurt her. He'd chop off his own balls before he did that. He'd hide her away in the Cabin or some other home he'd procure especially for her before he allowed anyone to even look at her wrong. She was Heaven on Earth to him and no one would destroy his Eden.

"Let me out." Bella pushed a tiny hand at his left wrist. "I need to grab some marinade."

Paul allowed her to slide out from between the shelter of his arms, trailing the fingers of his left hand along her shoulder as she browsed the selection of sauces. Her head tilted to the side in concentration. He smirked, positively giddy to watch her as though he were an inquisitive puppy just brought into a new home with his Mistress.

His eyes momentarily drifted to the full cart in front of him. They'd been in the grocery store for a little under an hour shopping for food for the Cabin. One of the worn green hand-baskets the 'lighter' shoppers favored was also filled and sitting under the cart on the metal grate attached to the four wheels. The basket's contents were the few things Bella had needed to pick up for her own home with Charlie that she hadn't remembered to get when she'd shopped a couple days prior.

Jared had gone shopping with her that time, also annoying the ever-loving mind out of their mate just as Paul did now.

Bella placed two bottles each of Lemon Garlicious and State Fair Speedie sauce into the limited space left in the cart before inching herself without complaint back into the position he'd all but forced her into the moment they'd entered the store.

"We just need to get milk and eggs and we'll be all set." She informed him lightly, pushing at the cart she had no control over.

He let her 'lead', as it were, even if he was the one doing all the physical labor.

He and his brothers, and now Bella as well, needed to go shopping once every week like a normal family might. The only difference between his 'family' and the Normals' was that he and his brothers ate far more food than any Normal human. Jacob, Sam, and Seth had worked out a delivery schedule with the Rez's grocery store. They had a list of the 'regulars' they wanted like bread, cereal, soup cans, and countless other foods that were delivered every Thursday at two to the Cabin which one or two of them would in-turn stock the kitchen with. The single trip they made once a week to the Forks grocery store were made exclusively for the 'extras' they sometimes desired and for the perishable goods. Produce, dairy, and meats specifically.

He snagged two gallons of 2% white milk while Bella loaded three eighteen-count eggs into the collapsible child's seat out of the way of the heavier goods. Paul knew as well as she did how much of a bitch it was to clean up egg off of the floor. She set the tomatoes and peaches beside them.

"You ready?" She asked him with a wide smile on her pretty face. Paul nodded his head mutely. There were times that she struck him deaf and dumb with the simplest, sweetest of gestures and he could only nod his head in agreement to whatever it was she was saying. She had immense power over him. He discovered some time ago that he was fine with that so long as she stayed with him forever.

Paul walked with Bella once again settled between him and the cart. He shortened and slowed his normally much larger steps to match her easy strides. Her back was only an inch or so from his chest and he could feel the heat radiating off of her. She'd only opened the coat he'd given her, not completely taken it off in lieu of the cooler temperatures the store was kept at, and the heat she'd racked up in the fur covering fell off of her in waves. He was quite glad to know that Bella loved the heat and hated any sort of cold.

_Wonder if that's because of the leech?_ As soon as the thought ran through his mind he felt an enraged growl bubbling in his chest. He couldn't stand the thought of Bella being with another male besides he and his brothers and he sure as Hell couldn't sanely think on the very true statement that she had belonged to a vampire no more than a few months ago.

Catching onto his thoughts no matter how hard he attempted to shield them his brothers all growled.

"Paul?" Bella had stopped and because she had so did he. He stared down at her, his eyes softening by miles when they landed on her upturned, worried face. Her right hand rubbed a soothing patter up and down his left forearm from where she'd reached across her chest to touch him. He felt drowned by her soulful brown eyes. He didn't deserve her. "Are you okay?"

He'd almost forgotten about that. Not only could he hear his brothers in his mind while in human form, he was also made privy to his mate's emotions through more than just scent. He could feel her…and she could feel them. Anytime they were overly emotional they would project it onto her and she reacted to it immediately. It had happened even before his Prime had claimed her as theirs, but it was stronger now.

"I'm fine, Button. Just thought about something that's best left buried." He kissed her temple before gently urging her into moving again.

"You can talk to me…if you want." She assured him softly, now walking but still staring back at him. It showed her level of trust in him to unconsciously allow him to lead her where he may. His heart constricted a little more for his love for her. "I can just listen if you just need someone to talk to. I don't want – I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

He banded his right arm over her dainty chest and hugged her as closely to him as physically possible. Paul was unable to deny his wolf or himself the lingering kiss to her upturned lips. A faint purr escaped him for half a minute before he pushed it down and away where no Normals would question the phenomenon.

"Thank you, Bella. Really."

When the moment had passed he ushered them up to the first available check-out line. The Forks General was never a busy place, but it was nice not to have to wait for Grandma Moses to finish checking out her order of fifteen cans of cat-food, Depends, and Dentugrip. He decided to keep those thoughts to himself as his mate would undoubtedly smack him for being so mean.

He set Bella's hands onto the handlebar, firmly instructing her to keep them there and not go wandering about, and then moved to the front of the cart to unload their contents. He smiled at the dark look she was giving him from where he'd positioned her. As much as she hated him talking down at her like she was an errant child he loved teasing and cherishing her just as much.

"Dang stupid, chauvinistic, male gene," she mumbled under her breath. He didn't miss the sparkle in her eyes, though, when an idea he was certain he wouldn't like popped into that pretty head of hers. It was his turn to frown then.

"Whatever you're thinking about don't do it," he commanded gruffly, halting in the unloading to pin her with the power of his will. Her giggle of delight was like a pin-needle popping his proverbial balloon.

She had absolutely no fear of him, the little minx!

"Be right back," she practically sang as she dashed out of his line of sight and back into the aisles. Tension built in his frame the instant she sprinted from him. His wolf bayed and howled, wanting to be free to chase after her, snatch her up by the cuff of her coat, and haul her naughty-self right back to where he'd put her like the disobedient mate she was.

Didn't she know by now how crazy it made any of them to have her out of their sights? She had to know it. One of them was always with her, patrolling around her to keep her safe and take care of any and all desires she had while projecting the image of her, _safe_, back to the others. The pups, Brady and Collin, tailed her at school as much for their own sanity as for their Alphas' because Heaven knew if he and his brothers snapped then they were taking everyone else down with them. The possessiveness and protectiveness had only grown stronger once she was marked.

It was nearly unbearable to go even five minutes without being in immediate vicinity of her!

He was just about to blow his top, chuck the still half-full shopping cart through the windows behind him, and run after his mate's trail when she came skipping back cheerily and plunked an industrial-sized tub of Neapolitan ice-cream, Hershey's fudge, and jarred marshmallow goop onto the conveyer belt where the poor cashier was shaking in fear of the angry waves he'd been shooting off moments before.

"No way." He snapped in irritation, reaching over the belt to take the unhealthy items and put them anywhere he could where she could not get her hands on them. She snatched them back up with an unwavering grin splitting over her face. There was something inherently evil and female in that smile that sent shivers down his spine.

Males everywhere know to fear for their lives when they saw a smile like that.

"Nah-ah-ah, Paul. These are mine, buddy." Another glint sparked in her chocolate eyes, making them seem darker and more sinister, and he literally shrank back a little. "Try and put these back and you'll be sorry."

_Just let her get the damned ice-cream_. Jacob's deep, tired voice inserted crabbily. His Prime had been sleeping off a seventy-two-hour stint of patrols and work and waking him up now after only a few hours of sleep was paramount to shooting the bird at his mate.

…Someone would have their throat ripped out.

_She'll be ready for a nap as soon as she gets back into the truck_. That was true. He could feel her fatigue as easily as he could feel his own emotions. _Once she's asleep she'll forget all about the ice-cream. I doubt she'll even know it's in the freezer until she opens it the next time she decides to make a meal for us._

Sighing, Paul motioned for Bella to put her choice back onto the belt while he unloaded the rest of the cart. Her smugness irked him only a little. Her genuine smile helped to appease that small displeasure, though. He'd do almost anything to keep her happy.

When he'd unloaded everything out of the cart he moved to the basket underneath, ignoring Bella's protests against him paying for her purchases as well. Too bad. She'd all but started it with picking up her precious sweet treat, one which he was determined she wouldn't eat too much of.

Once the groceries were paid for Paul shuttled Bella towards his truck. He dissuaded her from helping him put the groceries into the bed of the truck and instead loaded her into the passenger seat. He kissed her cheek, unable to stop himself, before buckling her in, shutting the door, and filling up his truck with their purchases. Once the bags were stored where they needed to be, the eggs and fragile produce set behind his seat in the cab, Paul pulled the tonneau cover over the bed to keep the wind from whipping their goods around.

By the time he'd hopped up behind the wheel Bella was napping.

He smiled faintly, bent over the partition, and kissed her cheek again. She got so tired lately. He couldn't blame her. Actually, it was he and his brothers that held the entire fault. They were feeding off of her energy, unconsciously since he'd have stopped doing so had he known how, and she was suffering because of it.

_Still adorable, though_.

On the drive back to La Push Paul cradled Bella's left hand in his right, rubbing his thumb over the fine bones hidden under the taut skin on the back of her palm. He inhaled her scent deeply and allowed it to sooth him. Nothing else could work better for him. She was both his aphrodisiac and his sedative.

He considered the things the other Shifters, Caleb, Boone, and Daire, had told him and his brothers. Much of it had been about how they would interact with Bella as their mate and how she would respond. For the first several hours that was all they were concerned about. Bella. Always their Bella.

Beyond that, though, they had asked after their kind as a whole. They needed to know more about Shifters since their ancestors obviously hadn't kept records for the future generations. It had been for a good reason he knew now, but he still wished their pack-ancestors had kept at least something that they could have learned from.

Paul had sighed heavily in relief, as had his brothers, when the three others had told them that in future they would not need to utilize any condoms when they mated with Bella. No, it wasn't because he was so self-centered that he wanted to feel her wet flesh against his cock without any barrier, though he _did_ want that. It was for the express reason that the poor girl wouldn't have the worry over the condoms breaking and her getting pregnant with their pups.

Caleb had told them it was a miracle that the condom had held, no matter how 'large' the brand was, but that they had worried needlessly. Semen was neutralized between wolf and mate until the mate was ready for the responsibility of carrying the next generation. All of them had barked that particular cat up and down the tree in an effort to understand how such a thing was possible, but the only response they got that made any sense was that since the beginning of their history the females, the mates, had come first in everything. Whatever it was that made them Shifters and the females mates worked together seamlessly on some magical or genetic level to create harmony.

They were all tentatively nervous about mating Bella again without the added protection a condom would provide her, and thus them, but they had to hope that generations upon generations of built-in failsafe's stood the test of time.

Bella twitched a little in her seat and Paul jerked to attention immediately. She hummed a little, murmured something even he couldn't understand, and then fell back into sleep. He grinned at her before pivoting his gaze fully back onto the road before them.

Beyond the non-breeding occurrence they'd learned several interesting facts about Shifters that hadn't been passed down through their own legends, which most likely were left unrecorded as most Shifters were made into Wanderers by the unacceptability of their Polyamorous pairings in Normal society. True, their pack had remained in La Push for many generations now, but that fact could change easily with the beliefs of the Normals that surrounded them all.

All Shifters, inherently, were male. The closest they ever came to having a Shifter female was an Induja, but she never had the necessary gene required to shapeshift. Those males also shared a mate depending upon basic make-up that no mortal being could fully understand beyond being compatible. Paul could understand that. Bella was everything he had ever wanted, though he hadn't known it until he'd met her, and would ever need, though he still wasn't entirely certain of what he needed.

The half-shift, too, was a rarity now. Boone had called back to a friend in Quebec, one of the pack up there, and discovered that though there was very little known about the half-shift it was well known that any Shifter with the ability was _strong_. The half-shift was the basis for '_The Wolfman_' and other such movies. An Alpha with the ability to retain the upright posture and body-set of a human while simultaneously unleashing his wolf was indicative of something great. Their packs were usually the ones that established niches in the world for other Shifters or heralded in major changes for Normals. While he and his brothers would have to learn the ins-and-outs of that new form they had an inkling now that they were destined for something more than they ever thought.

_It's for Bella_. Jared cut in, having Shifted moments before. _She's Induja and we're her mates. Everything we are is for her. Why would this be any different?_

He didn't deny it. Trouble seemed to follow Bella around like a shadow. She needed them in more ways than one.

Especially now with her hiding whatever it was she was hiding from them.

_It has to be the Pier. It just has to be_. He was ninety-percent sure of it. Bella hadn't been the same since she'd come back from Port Angeles.

_We'll figure it out, man. She can't hide from us forever_. Jared assured him, though he sounded like he needed some reassuring himself.

He was startled to see that he'd gotten them to the cabin without entirely being aware of it. His glance slid to the still sleeping female beside him. He smiled again, knowing he'd empty out the truck while she recouped and then come back to collect her so they could snuggle on her bed.

_Spirits!_ He cursed colorfully in his head, his physical motions of petting a hand over Bella's hair and purring not revealing his inner-anger directed at his pussy-whipped self. _What the fucking-Hell? When did I move from being the ultimate pussy-pleaser for woman-kind to the one-man-cuddle-show?_

The answer to that was simple.

_Since I met Bella_.

Getting himself in check, Paul hustled out of the truck in record time and shuttled the groceries inside at an inhuman speed. He didn't bother unpacking anything, just tossed whole bags into the fridge if they held perishable foods and then left everything else on the counters or floor, doubtless to hear shit from his brothers as soon as they got home, and sped back to his waiting mate.

He left the ice-cream melting in the sink.

Instead of opening her door and thereby toppling her out of the truck since she was leaning against its frame he slid back in through the driver's side and pulled her pliant body gently towards him. She hummed a little, making him purr again with delight. Her head knocked into his shoulder as he pulled her light body into his arms. He made certain that her hands were tucked safely on her lap before shutting the door to his truck and easing them both into the house.

He'd put her down for her nap, cuddle her until she woke, and then…well, he had an interrogation planned.

_One that will definitely please both of us in the long run_.

He hid his smirk into her flow of dark chestnut hair, knowing that he'd be tensed and ready the instant she woke up.

* * *

><p>Bella rolled onto her side, reached up her right hand, and pulled roughly downward on the velvety, squishy mass she was determined to detach from whomever it was that had been poking at her while she slept.<p>

A hearty chuckle made her growl.

"Aww…wy wittle one doesn't like to we woken ut does she?" Her brows furrowed tiredly as she attempted to decipher the words just spoken to her. She assumed that she'd grabbed onto Paul's lower lip if the lack of lip-touching consonants was any clue.

…the drool trickling onto the backs of her fingers aided that assumption as well.

"Eww," she whined as she jerked her hand out of and away from the mouth it had been tormenting. She'd almost have preferred him to outright lick or suck on her fingers over dribbling on them. "Why'd you poke me?" She grumbled as she used his over-heated chest as a substitute napkin for her soiled fingers.

"You told me to."

"Huh?"

She slitted her eyes open just enough to glare at the behemoth in her bed. While she was studiously tucked under the heavy blankets and he was lying atop them, she felt vulnerable and could taste the intended intimacy in the air as he hovered over her. The hand she'd guessed had prodded her awake was now massaging circles into her right hip comfortingly. Anyone who stepped into this scene now could easily fool the boy with a well-behaved, proper gentleman.

_Schmucks_, she thought dismissively.

"You talk in your sleep." She flushed hotly and threw one of the blankets up over her reddened face. It was like sleep-walking. She never knew she was doing it or what she said, but having others witness her so…uninhibited always embarrassed her.

"Get away from me," she hissed, rolling her head under a fluffy pillow beneath the blanket, determined to go back to sleep where no idiotic males could ruin her peace.

Tickling fingers at her sides had her squealing and bolting from the bed in two seconds flat.

"What the Hell?" She screeched, clutching at her sides protectively. It wouldn't even slow the Shifter down if he _really_ wanted to get to her vulnerable sides, but the motion alone gave her a deluded feeling of safety.

Paul smirked at her from the bed.

"What's wrong, Button? Don't you want to come back to bed with me?" _Bed? With him?_ In one way it sounded wonderful, but in the way he meant it she knew that the vigorous shaking of her head would be the only viable response to give. If she returned to that bed she'd be trapped and tortured unendingly by his innocent-looking fingers. He sighed in false exasperation. "You wound me."

"I'd like to unman you more." She responded automatically. Her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth. Paul's dark eyes were narrowed on her, though not angrily. Still, Bella found her feet moving beneath her, slowly edging her way towards the door. Safety. Freedom.

_Big mouth_, she hissed at herself accusingly.

"I didn't mean that." She mumbled under her hands.

"Hn," Paul expressed in a noncommittal way. She began to shake as she watched him unfold himself from her bed and draw his body up to its full height on the side closest to her. No obstacles were in his way. She was only partially intimidated by his great size, both in muscle and height. The rest of her…well, the rest of her was heating up like a firecracker and the inner-her was rapidly dissolving into a muddled mess of hormonal need.

_Look at those hands_, her inner voice gasped loudly. She was currently fanning herself with shaking fingers. _I can just imagine how those would feel tugging on my hair…petting me…oh God, gripping my hips like their pure gold. Oh my God_.

Oh my God was right.

Paul was a God among men. He looked so much like his 'brothers', but just as they each had their own little slice of perfection Paul had his. He radiated a dark and dangerous aura, one that prompted mothers to whisper into their daughters' ears to stay away from bad-boys like him. She could never fear that he would hurt her in any capacity, but she had good reason to be wary of his He-man attitude. The most base, feminine part of her, one that was imbedded in the female gene since Adam and Eve and built upon with each generation born, welcomed his inherent dominancy with open arms.

Even if her independent side spit at the idea of a man controlling her.

"Where are you going, Button?" He drawled in a smoky, deep voice.

"Uh," she licked her lips as her eyes zoomed in on the tattoo-looking collar around his neck. Was she imagining things or was it pulsing? "Just, uh, out to the kitchen. I'm hungry."

"Ah, I see. You haven't been eating well."

Her eyes opened wider at those words. Trepidation trickled through her sorely confused body. She knew they watched her, knew that when they couldn't that they had one of the pups or both of them hounding her and Issa at school, and knew damned well that everything she did was scrutinized to the nth degree.

"Is something troubling you, Bella-mine?" Paul asked solemnly, striding with far larger steps towards her. Bella gulped, backing herself up into her door. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

_I think a psycho, red-headed vampire bitch has come back for revenge and wants to kill me?_ She thought to him, knowing that he couldn't understand her and preferring it that way. _That I'm almost positive that it wasn't my imagination running wild with me and Victoria was standing on that boat? How about I'm scared shitless now to bring it up, on the off-chance that I'm wrong and she isn't there, and you all follow-through and spank me like a disobedient child for keeping this from you?_

She settled for shaking her head.

Silently.

"Are you sure, little one?" He eased up in front of her so that their fronts touched. One large hand settled onto her shoulder while the other slipped down behind her to cup her behind threateningly. She shivered again, though this time it was with more fear than desire. Paul inhaled deeply and growled long and low. "I smell the lie on you, Bella. You know you're in trouble, but you refuse to tell us what's going on. Mark my words, Bella, we will find out what's bothering you and when we do you're going to be taught a lesson."

"I-I'm not a baby!" She stuttered out frantically, beating his chest a couple times with her fists. Ineffectual, yes, but the exertion made her feel a tiny bit better. "You can't spank me. You can't tell me what to do. You don't own me!"

Paul chuckled, bending his head and shoulders low so that he could whisper into her ear. "You're wrong, Bella-mine. All you are is ours just as we are yours. It's only a matter of time before you figure it out." Lust slammed through her like a tidal-wave as his tongue caressed the spot he'd just been breathing on.

_I gotta get outta here_, she decided suddenly. She wouldn't survive this encounter with her skirt on if she stayed any longer.

She wasn't in control of her own body anymore.

Taking her chances, Bella whirled her body out under Paul's arms and dashed for the French doors leading out onto the back deck. It was her only hope for freedom. Dark laughter echoed behind her with every footfall she made.

_Jesus! How could this turn me on?_

It did.

"Ah, ah, ah," Paul taunted from behind her, "don't you know running from a wolf is very dangerous?" She did, but she also knew he'd never hurt her.

_No, he'll just pound your brains out_, the inner her snorted derisively, still consumed by the uncontrollable and rapidly rising need inside of her.

A hand skimmed the back of her neck when she touched the locked door. She shuddered.

"My helpless little Button," Paul purred before Bella felt herself pulled off of her feet.

_I'm so screwed_, was he last true, coherent thought.

* * *

><p>FULL SCENE and STORY AVAILABLE ON LINKS ON PROFILE<p>

* * *

><p>Paul grunted and stirred beneath her. She had a moment to idly wonder where he got the strength before his hands gripped her ass once more to carry her across the room to the bed. His movements were perfectly smooth. Had her eyes not been open or she had not felt herself being lain flat onto the bed she wouldn't have thought that he'd moved her at all. Paul fell down with her and on top of her, his nose becoming buried into her neck even as he licked her sensually, yet not in rekindled desire. They were more lazy, sleepy strokes than anything.<p>

She found herself petting his now perspiration slicked hair, a low rumbling coming from his chest and into hers. She froze in her administrations when she felt something strangely grow within her. It took a long moment for her to understand that Paul had yet to pull himself out from her.

"Paul?" She asked breathlessly, her lids already sliding shut in search for sleep.

"Mmhmm?" He mumbled into her neck, urging her to go on.

"Do you Shapeshifters have that same knotting thing going on that real wolves do?" She questioned warily, exhaustion slipping in on her rapidly. Hadn't she just gotten done with her nap? She should be wide awake even though he had woken her up.

"Yes, Bella."

"Oh." She fingered his bowed back as he continued to lave at her most likely hickey-littered neck. She'd have to get some cover-up if it was half as bad as she thought it might be. She couldn't go back to school or home to her father showing signs of what they'd just done. There would be too many questions she'd have to answer.

Her eyes bore into his chest when another thought came to her.

"Uh, Paul?" His tongue stopped momentarily signaling that she had his attention. Not that she doubted she had it anyway. If she breathed wrong they were the first ones to jump all over her for it. "I'm, uh, on the Pill and all, but we didn't, uh, use a condom. Is that going to be bad?" Hysteria seeped into her at the thought of getting pregnant at this point in her life. She didn't want it or need it. She was only eighteen!

_Fuck! I don't want to be another statistic. I don't want to be a mamma right now or anytime soon_.

"Shh," the wolf shushed her soothingly, leveraging himself off of her with his elbows and using his hands to massage her temples. "We should have talked about this sooner. I'm so sorry, Bella. I lost control of myself. Caleb and his brothers said that Shifters can't make babies unless the mate wants and is ready for them. They don't understand how it works, but we think it's because everything a mate is and wants becomes a Shifters life. Whatever makes us mates works off of that so that we're essentially infertile until you're ready."

Bella pursed her lips, but accepted the explanation for now. She lived in a world of Supernaturals now…why would it be so much of a stretch to think that this was possible as well? _Vampires, Shifters, and magical-contraceptives, oh my!_

When she got her senses and mind back fully under her own control, though, she was going to have a serious sit-down with her men about these things. She wasn't the only one keeping things silent in their 'relationship' and it was about time that they got the full truths.

Even about her thoughts on Victoria.

Paul chuckled suddenly and Bella cocked her head off to the side questioningly. He beamed down at her proudly…almost smugly.

"You knocked my brothers on their asses, Button." He kissed her forehead. "I'll never get tired of that." She flushed deeply, recalling just then how the guys seemed to share the same ability to climax when she did…or at least when she made one of the others do it.

_Damn it. I really need to talk to Evy about that more_.

Whatever Paul was about to say to that affect, though, was halted by a nearby howl and the shattering of glass. Paul stiffened above her, shielding her body from the trespasser's view, and snarled towards the French doors she'd attempted escape from earlier.

"Bella's house is on fire." Brady's harried voice shouted in an enraged panic from the broken doorway out of her view.

Bella's heart stopped when he continued.

"Chief Swan's inside the house."


	25. Chapter 24: Explanation and Consequences

**_WARNING:_ This chapter will be intense and possibly graphic for some readers. The same kind of scene will NOT continue in any further chapters of this story or be repeated, but it was necessary to my plot to add it as it is now. The scene is ABUSE no matter what you may assume to be right or wrong (at least to me) and I do NOT condone such treatment to man, woman, or child. This is not something that will be taken lightly, of that you can be assured.  
><strong>

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Explanations and Consequences**

"Chief Swan's inside the house."

Those words echoed in an unbearably loud beat in Bella's head. It was like the sound of war-drums banging off in the distance, growing steadily louder the closer she got to hysteria. Her hands, once toying with Paul's hair and neck, curled inward until they resembled blunt claws. Her nails, recently painted baby-blue, dug mercilessly into Paul's skin. His growled, hiss of pain didn't even register in her mine.

"Daddy," she whimpered, her eyes bugging out.

"Fuck! Get Charlie out of that house, Fuller!" Paul was groaning now, sounding as if he were in absolute pain. Bella couldn't make sense of it beyond her own distress. "Go. Now!"

As Brady disappeared through the doorway Bella's panic peaked to its crescendo.

"Daddy!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Bella thrashed under Paul, uncaring of the fact that his hardened member was still lodged within her and her chaotic movements were hurting the both of them in her bid for freedom. Bella kicked her legs into Paul's thighs in an attempt to thrust him away. Her nails raked across his back, shoulders, chest, and face as she fought him, literally tooth and nail, to get him off of her so that she could get up.

"Spirits! Bella, stop this!" The male roared over top of her as she continued to scream for her father.

"Get the fuck off of me! Dad's going to die! I won't let him die!" Bella snarled in a feral voice. She slapped Paul. Hard. "Fucking get off of me you Bastard! Daddy!" A hard tug on her pelvis as she scooted back sent a shooting pain in her core that she stoutly ignored.

Paul, however, did not.

The male currently knotted to her gently, yet firmly snatched her hands up and away from his person and slammed them over her head against the pillows. His shins locked down over top of her ankles while the rest of his impressive bulk came to rest over her distraught body. His weight efficiently pinned her immobile. Still she fought to be free.

"Get off me! Get the fuck off of me!" She screamed hoarsely, tears of pain and anger streaming down her cheeks. Her head whipped from side to side, the only part of her body that she still had control over. "Daddy!"

"Bella, shhh. We're not going to let your father die. Quil, Seth, and Jared are already at the house trying to get him out. You need to calm down."

"Fuck you!" She lurched forward and smashed her forehead into his nose. Paul howled out in pain as his nose snapped, _broke_, and increased his hold on her wrists with one hand so that he could use the other to press her head down as well. Bella felt dizzy and pained from the hit, but refused to let it deter her. She'd claw his damned eyes out before she let her father die.

She was all he had left in the world and she wasn't going to let him die.

She screamed hysterically when she found her head pushed to the side with Paul's sharper teeth biting lightly into the column of her neck exactly where Jacob had marked her as theirs. His teeth sunk a little deeper, a little more firmly, into her neck when she bucked twice more. A low-pitched purr dribbled out of his chest and Bella felt her body giving in to his call despite her mind's fevered struggle to get to her father. She relaxed under him slowly, her anger fully morphing into heart-wrenching sorrow.

"Daddy," she cried plaintively, her chest heaving with sobs.

"Shh," Paul hushed her when his teeth were removed from her neck. His hands released her no longer struggling body and caressed her arms soothingly. His shins still kept her legs pinned by the ankles while he gentled her in his moment of uselessness. That was, after all, what he was in this situation. Knotted to her as he was he couldn't do anything to save her father. All he could do was try and keep her tantrum from hurting either of them, though she knew he was concerned only for her.

She stared with blurry eyes up at his dark ones, distracted only slightly by the drying blood streaked from his nostrils to his lips. She felt insanely guilty beneath her own hurt and fear for having injured him so even though she knew well that the bone had already mended itself.

"S-save him." She stuttered, her heart breaking at the thought of never having her father in her life again. She pushed weakly at his broad shoulders as he supported himself off of her, his member loosening bit-by-bit inside of her. He wouldn't move away until he was entirely flaccid and at no risk of hurting her, but the stubborn, uncompromising side of her that put her family first urged her body to get his moving more quickly…no matter how ineffectual it was.

"We will and we are," Paul rumbled as he tested the ease in which he could remove himself from her. He wasn't quite there yet judging by his own hiss and her answering grunt.

_Dear Lord! How do real dogs put up with this?!_ She wondered peevishly in the very back of her mind.

"Jared's close. He's going to get your father out."

"How do you know?!" She snapped hotly, tears staining her cheeks.

"Because I can hear their thoughts." She gaped at his deadpanned words for only a moment before she resumed her struggle to wiggle free. Paul's hands snapped down hard on her hips to keep her immobile until he could pull himself out. An evil part of her wanted to just watch the cursed thing drop off of him permanently when she could finally pull herself away from him. Why did he have to knot in her anyway? He'd already said, and she prayed that the words were truthful, that he couldn't impregnate her until she was ready…which she most definitely wasn't! That should have meant that the knotting, which was a process designed entirely for helping to impregnate a female, was null-and-void.

"Nevermind," she growled, pushing his upper half uselessly. "Get off of me. My dad needs me. It's my fault and I'm not going to let him die for my mistakes!"

"Your fault?"

She stiffened then. There was no other choice as Paul was finally able to pull free of her and loomed over her like some ominous, dark cloud. His face appeared to be etched from stone. His dark eyes glimmered with dangerous intent as he stared down at her helpless, prone form.

_Fuck. Not now_.

Inner-Bella was already packing her bags and attempting to hightail it to a safe location where no meaty paws could make contact with her outer's buttocks. She wanted to flee with her 'conscience'. She wanted to hide almost more than anything else in the world.

Almost.

"Not now." She repeated her thoughts out loud and began brutally pounding her tiny fists into his hot chest. Her fingers throbbed a little. "Please, not now! I need to go home! I need to see my father. Please, Paul, _please_!"

She saw the dominant, Alpha male in him fight to stay in control…saw it war with his more intelligent self on whether or not to pursue the matter. It was a great relief to feel Paul withdraw from above her, to see his dark gaze disappear from her immediate range of sight, and to be able to raise herself up into a sitting position. She forewent the blankets. Modesty was her last concern at the moment.

"Put this on," Paul ordered her, having picked up his tossed t-shirt from the floor. He'd most likely removed it there after they'd come back from the grocery store. He didn't give her time to wiggle into it on her own. Instead he slid her arms through it and tugged it down over her head. Like any of the others would, his shirt swallowed her whole. She would have argued quickly about wearing her own clothes, but he'd ripped her panties, bra, and blouse. There was no way she could wear them now.

In her distraction Paul stood her up in front of him. He tugged her hurriedly outside, lifting her over the shattered glass of the doorway which Brady had left in his wake, and then embraced her as he bolted over the railing.

"Shit!" She squeaked with minute fear as they plummeted for the ground. Paul's legs crouched as he touched down, effectively smoothing out their landing and ensuring that she would receive no whiplash from the impact.

On the open ground Paul flicked her onto his back by a single drag on her wrist upwards. Having been through this before, she didn't startle when she felt his muscles shake or heard his bones snap. It was still slightly unsettling, though. Her fingers curled into the silvered fur of his neck and back as her lover and mate transitioned from his two-legged form to his beast one. The skirt she still wore from their lovemaking rose and parted as her legs were forced to stretch wide over his massive back.

Paul howled as soon as he was fully wolf, a sound that sent chills down her spine.

"Run, Paul," she pleaded with him, hunkering herself down over his back like a well-trained horse-Jockey. Riding on her wolves was a lot like being in the arms of a vampire when they ran, only she had the added security of being able to hold herself aboard…and the blessed heat. The idea of having even that small amount of control eased her mind greatly on how fast they would be moving.

The silver wolf glanced to the side, his amber eyes smoldering on her from an oblong angle. She suspected he saw the tears threatening to pool anew in her eyes besides simply feeling her all-consuming distress. She snuggled her face into his fur subconsciously, seeking the comfort his body could provide her.

She needed all the comfort she could get at this point.

* * *

><p>As soon as Paul had set her down onto her feet in the woods just beyond her home Bella ran for the house. She was apprehended by a solid male body before even hitting the clearing of her back yard. She shrieked in fury and struggled for all she was worth.<p>

"Shh, calm down, Bella." Seth's words were soft, but firm. He set a large hand over her lips to silence her screeching. "Don't bring the firefighters back here while we're all naked or Shifted. Please, Bella, calm down. Jared got your Dad out and he's on the other side of the house in the ambulance. You need to calm down if you want to see him, okay?"

She instantly stilled, her eyes zoning in on the end of the driveway peeking out from the other side of where she was currently held. Her dad was there. He was there and he needed her.

"Good girl." She ignored the patronizing words, though the phrase itself was endearing, and quickly darted towards the front of the house. She circled the burning building, the home she'd only just become reacquainted with after all these years, and sneezed several times at the scent of burning wood.

_Jesus_, she hissed in her mind.

The flames licked at the roof from the upstairs windows. _Her_ window. Her heart sunk a little farther at the knowledge that she and her father had memories in that house. Photos. Knickknacks. Keepsakes. _Everything_. Everything they had ever held onto of their pasts were igniting in smoke.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She couldn't break down for this. Not now, at least. There were more dire matters she had to attend to.

Rounding to the very front of her home she could see the ambulance setting a safe distance beyond the two measly fire trucks Forks claimed ownership of. One was fairly new, she knew, while the other was several years old and held a more meager water supply than the newer. No matter, though. She highly doubted that their home could or would be saved by that point. Their volunteer fire-rescue team made the valiant effort, anyway.

"Daddy!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Several of the men trying in vain to save her home whirled from the inferno to face her rushing form. Many of them looked shocked. She supposed she made quite an impression running towards the ambulance with no socks on, an over-sized male shirt and long skirt serving as her chosen ensemble, and acting as resident witch because she'd appeared practically out of thin air to them.

Let them gawk.

Not fifteen feet from the opened back doors of the ambulance, wherein which she could see her father sprawled out on the gurney, she was blockaded. Bruce, an EMT for Forks Hospital, set his hands on either of her shoulders to stall her. He refused her passage when she weaved from side to side, his brown eyes trailing over her form intensely.

"Bella. You weren't in the house, were you? Are you okay?" Bella swatted at his hands, but she was weaker than he. He remained steadfastly in front of her, assessing. "You can see him once you've told me if you're okay."

"She's fine," snapped a gravely, deep voice from far behind her. Once of her mates. Jared. "I'd appreciate it if you let her see her father now." She couldn't bring herself to worry too much over Bruce's safety if he continued to hold his firm stance before her with his bigger hands on her upper arms. She just needed to see her father.

"I think she can tell me herself, don't you?" Bruce snapped back, obviously unnerved by the larger male presiding over them and uneased by the fact that his Chief of Police was out of commission.

"Move," she ordered succinctly. The man seemed genuinely surprised by her rudeness. They all, especially the people within the government-paid community, knew her as the Chief's polite, shy, and quiet daughter. Chances were that this was the first time in her history in Forks growling at its populace for getting in her way.

Hesitant, but unable to deny her, he allowed her to pass.

Bella shot around him, hopping into the ambulance with only a marginal slip. Charlie Swan had his eyes clamped shut, an oxygen mask covering his mouth, and rubbing in irritation at a red swatch on his left forearm. She set shaky hands down onto his shin through the blanket draped over him. The bay of the ambulance smelled thickly of fire-smoke.

"Daddy?" She whispered fearfully.

"Bella!" Her father gasped, his eyes shooting open. They were tinted red in the whites and cloudy elsewhere. His cheeks and arms that she could see were ashen. His forehead was wrapped with a bandage, the hint of it she could see around the back tinged red. He more haggard than she felt at the moment and was most definitely in poor condition. His right hand shot forward to grasp her wrist. His grip was strong despite its quaking which lightened her heart and mind drastically. Charlie Swan was down, but he was not out.

"Bella, are you okay?" His eyes darted over her like Bruce's had only moments before. They narrowed considerably at the man's shirt swallowing her whole. "What are you wearing?"

_Queue awkward stuttering_.

"Are you okay, Dad?" She diverted, her fingertips hovering over the bandage over his scalp. "I was so scared, Dad. What happened?" Of course she already had an idea, a nearly tangible belief at that. Still, she needed to hear it out of his mouth.

"It was my day off, but you know that already." She nodded slowly, showing that she was listening even though her eyes kept colliding with the blood-stain on the back of the bandage. "I was just going out to grab my tackle box out of the cruiser's trunk when I saw some punk kid running into the woods. Damned funny thing, that. Didn't care for it."

His brows furrowed. "I went inside, set the box down, and was going into the kitchen to heat up the casserole you left for me. I just put it in the microwave when something bashed me in the head." His hand drifted to the stain absently, her own keeping it from connecting. Her father was startled, having been acting unconsciously. His eyebrows knitted again. "I woke up on the floor. Someone was yelling for me. I couldn't think. I saw a wooo…"

_Ah shit_.

"Those were supposed to be legends!" Charlie hissed quietly, his eyes impossibly wide as he gawked past her to the four males and EMT blockading them in. Four of those men she knew quite intimately.

He tugged her hurriedly towards his prone form. He struggled to release himself with his free hand from the straps holding him to the gurney to flee, no doubt. Bella tore her wrist out of his grasp to settle both her hands as steadily as she could onto his shoulders. She pushed downward, succeeding in laying him back down. Fog clouded his mask from his chaotic breathing.

"I know, Dad." She responded gently, her tone pitched low enough that Bruce couldn't easily hear her from where he stood. "I _know_."

"You…" Charlie began only to cough and choke. Tears glittered in his eyes when he could breathe again and turned to her. His shoulders were slumped heavily. "How could you know, Bella?"

She smiled almost sorrowfully at her father, leaning heavily into the gurney. She was beginning to feel worn and tired now that the adrenalin was dying down. She'd been exhausted before her intimacies with Paul and afterwards. The high she'd gotten from the fear of her father being injured or killed was only ever temporary.

"I have some things to tell you, Dad." Tears prickled at her eyes. "I haven't been honest with you, I couldn't be, but you're in this now and I'm _so_ sorry." Crying openly, she fell into her parent's side and hugged her arms over his chest and to his side. It was an awkward position, but she didn't want to injure him further and she really just needed the comfort.

"Shh, Bells." Charlie whispered through his mask. His free hand, the one not pinned down by her body, scrubbed at the back of her tangled mess of hair. "Shh."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we really need to get you to the hospital, Chief." Bruce stood at the back doors to the ambulance, his lips turned down fiercely. Her men shadowed him, their eyes boring into her with intensity.

She felt like an ant under a microscope, about to be picked apart by some curious, yet sadistic child.

_Why the fuck didn't I tell them sooner!?_

"You can ride with him, Bella, but these guys will – uh, have to come separately." He flinched and jerked where he stood, tense, apparently unable to summon the courage to look over his shoulder at the titans behind him. She didn't blame him one once. Even unknowing of their Supernatural abilities they were an intimidating bunch.

"We'll meet you at the hospital, Princess," Quil assured her gravely, his posture a study of shaken control.

Charlie hugged her tighter to him with the hand that only moments before had been attempting to soothe her.

"O-okay," she whispered, trepidation lacing both syllables amidst the stutter.

Bruce shut the doors with a loud 'thud'. She and her father breathed out deeply, though she suspected that it was for two entirely different reasons.

"We're going to be having a serious talk once we get me settled at the hospital, kid." Charlie told her once the ambulance was started and rolling down their drive. Bella turned her eyes to his face, taking in his haggard appearance and determined gaze. Her head dropped, shame, disgust, and nervousness keeping her compliant.

"Yeah," she spoke back, her tone equally subdued. "I know."

* * *

><p>"We're going to keep him overnight for observation," the doctor at Forks General Hospital was telling her, his index finger inching his spectacles back up the slope of his nose as he spoke. "Smoke inhalation is no laughing matter and the concussion he is suffering from him should be monitored closely in case he relapses. As long as everything goes accordingly, we can release him tomorrow afternoon so long as someone will be there to look after him."<p>

"I'll be there," Bella informed the elder man with surety, her gaze darting unendingly towards the door and curtain acting as a boundary between she and her father.

"And so will I and the boys," Billy Black assured the doctor, his face firm and serious. Bella held his hand shakily, nerved-up and achingly tired. He gestured with his free hand to the wall of seven young males behind them both.

In the two hours since arriving at the hospital all of her men, with Billy in tow, had gathered together for her and the Chief, though she knew well and good her men were here almost exclusively for her.

_And to make sure I don't run away_.

"Good, good," Doctor Thompson nodded distractedly, summoning a nurse. "Sylvia, would you please check Chief Swan's blood pressure one more time before we let his daughter in to see him?"

"Of course, Doctor," the woman acquiescented, hurrying off to the room Bella so desperately wished she was in.

"Now, when Sylvia comes out you may go in an see your father, Bella. One other person may go with you, but no more. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir."

The Doctor, a man in his early forties, set his hand onto her shoulder supportively, his smile gentle and kind. "He'll be just fine, Bella. He has people he loves to look after him and we both know he's too stubborn to go down without a fight."

She summoned a weak smile for the man. "Thank you for your help."

She watched him go silently, her eyes intently fixed on the door the nurse would exit from soon. She was like a bloodhound, honed in on its prey in the bushes and just waiting for the call to retrieve it. She ignored the tightly coiled men standing behind her, knowing their frustrations and anger, but also uncaring of them for the moment. Her father was owed an explanation first.

"I'll go in there with her, if there are no objections." Billy told the others, his grizzled hand still squeezing hers in comfort. "Charlie and I grew up together and I think this whole conversation will go better with _plain_ people talking to him."

Silence.

"Jacob?" Billy urged, his tone almost placating.

"Fine." Her Alpha bit out, his voice as harsh and biting as a cold wind. "We'll be waiting right here for you, Bella. Right here." It wasn't as comforting as she would have hoped it would have been to hear those words. Their upset with her made the normally protective and loving comment sound menacing. It made her question her faith in them, wonder in the back of her mind if they truly loved her unconditionally.

_Nevermind that, girl. We need to see Daddy, now_. The inner-her chided, her own voice pitched low and sad.

When Sylvia had exited she motioned them forward. Bella shot forward, all but forgetting Billy in her rush, and hustled into the room.

Charlie Swan was now hooked up to a single IV, the mask replaced by the nasal oxygen tubes, and was settled under a full set of pale blue hospital blankets where she could see only his arms, shoulders, and higher. A momentary smirk stretched across her face at seeing the white and blue-speckled hospital gown draped over his shoulders. He had had no problems telling her how much he hated the things…left him feeling a bone-chilling draft on his butt and made him blush thinking about any of the nurses spying at his backside if he had to scuttle into the bathroom.

"I know that smile and it's not funny, Bells." Charlie growled, adjusting himself under the blankets so that he was in a more upright position. His wince was the only sign of his current discomfort – minus the pale skin and red-tinted eyes that is.

"Sure is, Dad." She joked back, her smirk moving to a genuine smile. "You've made enough wise-cracks about me in them over the years. Consider it payback and be thankful I'm not chanting '_nah-na-nah-na-nah-na_' in your face."

"Funny," he retorted, obviously disagreeable with that remark.

"How you feelin' Charlie?" Billy asked as he rolled into the room, swinging the door shut behind him. Bella sat in the lightly padded chair beside her father's bed, her lips drawn down once more.

"Not great, but it's nothing I can't handle." His eyes raked over the other man, his best friend. "Are you one of them?"

Billy chuckled. "No, Charlie. I'm not." He gestured to his legs. "If I was this would be healed completely. No, Charlie, I'm not a wolf."

"Those were supposed to be legends only, Billy. Crackpot stories we used to laugh at growing up after we got over oohing and aweing over the 'coolness' of it." He coughed a little, clearing his throat. It was still deeply raspy and would remain so for a while. His eyes met her once he'd reopened them. "How did you get into this, Bella?"

"You can't tell anyone, Dad." She began hurriedly. She set a hand to the back of her father's, the one not infused with the IV. "Before we say anything, you have to swear on everything you have that you won't ever tell. This isn't a joke, Dad…not a game. There are bad people out there, worse than the criminals you've ever had to deal with."

It was quiet for a long minute while her elder assessed her and her words. He transferred his gaze to Billy's stoic face occasionally, but for the most part kept his attention fully on her.

"All right. I agree."

"Thank you," Bella hushed, dropping her forehead onto his hand in relief.

"Most legends, Charlie, are derived from a small cornel of truth. As it happens the legend of our people and the Spirit Warriors was more real than any of us could imagine. I wasn't permitted to learn the truth of those stories we were told until I'd taken over as Chieftain. I still didn't fully believe it until the boys started showing signs of phasing."

"Phasing?" The brown-haired man asked.

"The process of changing from man to wolf." Billy explained. "Samuel Uley was the first one of them to phase. They all began to phase after that, one by one. Until fairly recently Jacob had been the last. There's a couple of boys, eighteen, that made the transition as well a fairly short time ago."

"It wouldn't be the two La Push boys that transferred over into Forks High School, now would it?" Startled, both Bella and Billy gaped at her father. Charlie tapped his nose with a finger. "I smelled something fishy about that. I'm not heading the force here for nothing, you know. I just couldn't pinpoint what was going on. I have to say I'd have never guessed this." He rubbed his raw throat after that particularly lengthy speech.

"Yes, well, I'll expand on that later." Billy shot her a look as if begging her to take control of that part of the conversation. The girl gulped.

"Do you remember the reason why our Warriors changed, Charlie?"

"Uh," His brows puckered together in thought, his middle finger ticking in nervous habit beneath her own hand. She willed him to think. Willed him to remember. After another moment a light-bulb seemed to go off in his head – a sure sign displayed by the light twinkling behind his foggy gaze. "Yeah, I do. Cold Ones. Vamp… There are vampires, too?"

"Yeah Dad." Bella squeezed his hand and squeaked out, "the Cullens are vampires."

_Welcome back heavy and tense silence. How have you been? You know, why don't you stick around for a bit because I think you're going to be needed for a while_. She joshed internally.

"Bella?" Her parent whispered.

"I knew, Dad. Not a first, but Jacob had told me some of the same legends you and Billy used to hear. The Cullens were…off. I couldn't figure out how or why for a while. Then it hit me. When I confronted them about it they admitted it. They weren't fully human anymore."

"Is that why they were never around when the sun was shining? They were going to turn to ash or something?"

"No, Dad," she chuckled, remembering thinking the same things once. When she was naïve. "Hollywood did a remarkable job of disillusioning us. The sun only ever made their skin sparkle. Not human. It's because of how hard they were. They don't sleep in coffins, either, and they were visible in mirrors and photos, which you know.

"The Cullens were different from most covens – ah, family groups, because they didn't drink human blood. They fed off of animals. When they went hunting, well, they _really_ went hunting."

"Bells…weren't you scared?" The earnest question from her father's dry lips startled her. Without a second's hesitation she shook her head softly.

"No. Not at all. They cared about me." She felt a pang in her heart at the past tense, but shook it off. She had all the support she'd ever need now. Or so she hoped and prayed. "They wouldn't have ever hurt me purposefully."

"Phoenix?"

She flinched. She should have guessed that he'd remember that. "There were wandering vampires. One of them wanted me and not in a nice way. The Cullens tried to protect me and we ran. The one, James, caught up to me in Phoenix. Edward saved me."

"You didn't fall down the stairs?" He was seeking clarification now.

"No."

"Tell me how."

"No." She was firm. She cupped both of her hands over his. "I won't tell you, Dad. It'll only make it harder to bear. But I'm fine now, right?"

With a deep sign, one disrupted by a throaty cough, exited his mouth. "You're right," he admitted upon gaining his breath back. "But what about the boys? How'd you figure out about them?"

"The same way I did the Cullens." Her heel jiggled nervously on the ground. Jiffy-foot. It was a bad habit she'd gotten from her mother when she was tense and couldn't twiddle her fingers. "I guessed. They weren't normal either, Dad. I already knew about the Cullens so by the time I met the guys after they phased it wasn't too shocking to think that they weren't fully human, either. If vampires can exist, why not other things?"

"It's not something that they can control, Charlie." Billy inserted. "It's in their blood. Now that they've phased there's no turning back. They'll never be pure human again."

Charlie's head lolled back into the pillows stacked at his back. He winced again, the bandage still wrapped firmly around his head. Bella felt her stomach and heart churn with guilt. He'd said it was a boy and her men hadn't said anything about smelling vampires, but she still had a gut feeling that Victoria was behind this.

"Dad," she started tentatively, "there's something I have to tell you."

Quirked eyebrow.

"James, the vampire that came after me in Phoenix? Edward killed him, but the thing is that he wasn't alone. He had a mate, a wife, named Victoria. I think she's angry and looking for revenge. I, uh, I'm pretty sure I saw her in Port Angeles. She pulled one of the boats into the pier. She tried to kill me." Both men glared at her with intensity and she shrunk a little further into her seat. "I wasn't sure if it was her. I thought maybe my mind could have been playing tricks on me, but I think she orchestrated this thing with the house. She knew there were wolves around and sent out a regular guy instead to burn the house down. She…I don't think she's going to give up."

By the end she was sobbing, her shoulders shaking.

_I caused this. I nearly caused my father to be killed. It's all my fault_.

"Okay, I think she's had enough," Jacob's deep, soothing baritone caressed her ears. She hadn't heard him enter and still didn't hear him approach her. He dropped a blanket over her shoulders, one acquired from the Cabin, and swaddled her quickly. Without a word to Charlie he hauled her up into his arms and began carrying her out of the room.

"Where's he taking her?" Charlie cried worriedly.

"To the Cabin, Charlie. Calm down." Bella spied Billy glaring halfheartedly at her over Jake's shoulder. "I guess I'm going to have to field this one."

"Field what?"

"Do you remember the Third Wife?"

It was the last thing Bella heard as Jake slipped them from the room. He passed the others, mute, and they followed behind dutifully. All of them stared at her, their gazes dark and angry.

Bella gulped fearfully, for the first time truly frightened of the men she'd come to love and trust.

_I'm scared_, she thought in the safety of her own mind, hiding her face into Jake's chest.

Things were about to take an even worse turn for her, she was sure.

* * *

><p>"You are in so much trouble, my mate," Jacob growled, his arms tense even as he set her down on her feet in the living room. The others were growling just as furiously, their bodies shaking. She stumbled backwards into the couch when they began to change over from man to their bestial 'werewolf' forms.<p>

Only Jacob remained completely human.

"I warned you what would happen if you ever put yourself in danger, Bella. I _warned_ you." He snapped at her, more livid than she thought she'd ever seen him. The other circled around them, barricading her in with their Prime. Their claw-tipped fingers clicked together as they flexed their furry hands.

"I'm going to beat your ass raw, Bella. How _dare_ you put yourself in danger?!" He snatched his arm forward before dragging her into his hard, hot chest. Her nose was buried in the rift between his pectorals, the scent of him washing over her like that blanket that lay forgotten in the truck out in the driveway. "You're our mate, dammit! You shouldn't ever hide something like this from us!"

"I wasn't sure!" She cried back, tears stinging her eyes as she sunk into the false-safety of the couch cushions.

"You're going to learn right now to never hide anything from us again, my mate," Jacob snarled, his eyes shining bright yellow. His own fingernails and teeth had elongated into terrifying claws and fangs.

Bella trembled with fear.

_Oh God_, she bawled internally. She felt like a petrified child faced with the boogeyman. _They're going to hurt me. They aren't going to listen!_

"Please, don't you think if I had been sure of it I would have said something?! My dad nearly died today because of me! I swear I would have said something, _anything_, if I would have thought it was real and he could be put in danger."

"And your welfare doesn't even come into consideration?" Jacob roared, his fangs glinting. She flinched when Embry kicked a table through the back doors.

"Jacob, I…" but she was cut off.

"You're not fucking leaving the house again without permission."

"What?!" She shrieked, her hackles rising slightly. He couldn't possibly be serious. It was his anger talking.

"You heard me, mate. I warned you. You didn't listen. Now you're going to pay the consequences." A chill snaked its way up and back down her spine at the dark, emotionless tone of his voice. This wasn't her Jacob anymore. These weren't her men. These were strangers.

Her heart dropped right out of her chest.

She felt sick.

"Please, please, I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry." She was crying again, her breaths coming out in gasps. "But please, don't do this. I didn't mean to do it! I didn't _know_! Daddy's – Daddy's in the hospital. I know it's my fault. All my fault, but I didn't mean it. I could have…I could have lost him!"

A gasp broke free of her mouth when she was yanked unceremoniously off of the couch to stand on her feet. She wasn't there long before she was tugged forward and down over a wide, solid lap. She gasped in minute pain from the impact.

"No!" She screamed, kicking her legs and swinging her arms wildly. "Not now! Please!"

"Fucking grab her. She's going to hurt herself." Jacob bit out, his right hand completely ripping her skirt from her body. His left kept her lower back pinned to his legs so that she dangled helplessly, her bottom poised high for him.

It only got worse when two sets of hands snatched her limbs, one at her ankles, the other at her wrists. They dragged her limbs downward so that she was forcefully arched over the Prime's legs. Their grips weren't painful, but they were firm and unshakable.

Bella keened loudly.

"P-please! Don't." Her sobs hiccupped. "Not now. N-not w-with Ch-ch-charlie!"

Her pleas were ignored. Through blurred eyes she watched her matted hair swing over the floorboards and the dark, thick hands keeping her arms stretched. Her tears poured over her brows and through her swaying locks to the floor. Occasional ones splattered the hat wrists keeping her captive and immobile.

Jake's big hand rubbed over her butt cheeks, its massive size nearly encompassing the globes. She had nothing to protect. Not even their love for her. They wouldn't listen, wouldn't even conceive of comforting her when she was so emotionally and physically exhausted. She could only wallow in her despair of nearly causing her father's death for her ignorance and soon she would be made to suffer the pain of him blistering her ass, sans security.

_The time I need them the most and they fail me_, she thought hopelessly, something in her breaking.

The first _crack_ of his palm on her ass sounded like a gunshot. Pain bloomed and flourished instantly, causing her to cry out in agony. His hand was like a steel pan, flat and unforgiving.

_And so it starts_.

Jacob beat her ass again, ignoring her wailing. Fire descended on her rear and consumed it. She felt as if her behind was being skinned, piece by piece. With each slap he landed the others growled in encouragement she thought. By the tenth slap she lost count. Her wailing was intermixed with cried for release, reprieve. She begged them to let her go. She was hurt enough internally…was the physical punishment necessary?

"Stop," she choked out. Her fingers clenched convulsively with each hit that landed. "Please, oh God, please _stop_."

Silence except for the beating of skin on skin. Her ass throbbed, more so than she ever thought it could. She continued crying, continued begging, as Jacob punished her. All the while she felt her heart breaking, a point being driven home into her mind that was unintended.

They didn't trust her…and in this action against her she knew that she couldn't trust them. She needed tender love at the moment, needed someone to comfort her in a time when she felt only remorse and guilt over anything and everything she'd ever done, and all she was receiving was more pain. More reason to hate herself and the people around her.

They didn't understand her.

_Understand me more or love me less_, she quoted in her mind.

Slap after slap. Crack. Fire. Burning. Bella stopped crying out and just cried. Eventually Jacob stilled his hand, the punishing palm rubbing circles into her cheeks, only spreading the heat more and agitating it.

"You promise us you'll tell us everything from now on. No more hiding. No more secrets."

"But," she began, only to be swatted again, this one more powerful than any of the others.

"Promise!" Jake barked.

"I p-promise." She whimpered, unable to endure it any longer.

"You will not leave the house without our permission, Bella. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," she assured him, retreating into herself. She felt one last, reproving slap before the hands at her wrists and ankles released.

Jacob flipped her over and sat her up, cleverly avoiding putting pressure on her ass with his thighs. He tucked her head into his chest and shushed her sniffling. He rocked her in the way she'd needed before and still needed, but no longer wanted from him. From any of them. She was too weak, though, to push out of his arms.

"We can't lose you, Bella. You're our everything. Without you there is no us." His lips kissed her crown. She choked on another sob. "Shh, it's okay now."

It wasn't…and she didn't know if it would be again.

They broke what faith and trust she had in them. They hurt her irreparably.

She sat in his lap passively, allowing the caresses of the others because she was too exhausted to object. She didn't so much as blink when she was eased forward with her legs drawn partially open so that one of them could put a cooling salve on her behind. She did flinch, however, when she was dragged into another set of arms. The smallest arms of the group.

Seth gazed down at her soulfully as he carried her to one of the extra bedrooms. His eyes shown with love, but she couldn't summon the feeling back. She just couldn't. He was involved in what they'd just done to her, hadn't supported her or helped her. He was as guilty as Jacob or any of the others who held her immobile or said nothing.

She tucked her face into his chest in an effort to remove him from her line of sight.

Seth set her down first on her knees of the bed in the upstairs master suite so that he could remove her borrowed shirt. She let him strip her like a rag doll. She didn't hinder him, but she didn't help him either. Seth frowned in sorrow at her unresponsiveness, but allowed her to slip onto her stomach with her head turned away from him. He pulled the covers over her prone form.

"I love you, Bella. I really do."

She didn't speak. Didn't dare.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing her hair, and then leaving her be.

As soon as he was out of the room Bella curled into a tight ball and cried into her knees. The skin of her ass pulled and screamed in agony despite the balm, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. The emotional pain was so much worse. She wept herself into further exhaustion and let sleep claim her, wishing and praying in the deepest recesses of her mind that she wouldn't wake back up.

* * *

><p>"I don't like this," Embry whimpered, staring up at the ceiling as if he could see though the sheetrock to their despaired mate. His chest ached something fierce.<p>

Something had gone horribly wrong here.

"We had to do it," Jacob tried to reassure them. It was a failed attempt. His own tone was drenched in self-contempt. "She wasn't going to learn if we didn't."

"I feel sick," Jared murmured, cleaning up the puddle of tears on the floor with a hand towel. They all stared at that puddle as if it were Isabella's life-blood and not just salty excretions from her eyes. Smelling the bitter tang of sorrow and hopelessness in the air, Embry felt his own stomach roil.

"What did we do wrong?" Seth asked quietly, his question hanging like smoke in the air.

"Better yet," Sam interjected, "how will we fix it?"

None of them knew.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>**:** I know, I'm a bad person. Didn't update for such a long time, but things had to be straightened out in my real life. But I'm back now and should be staying back. To everyone who PM'd me, I intend to get with you as soon as possible (respond). I am terribly sorry for the delay.

As it is, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Not as long as some of my others, but equally important to the story. Please feel free to review, but remember to keep your language clean if pointed towards other readers. I don't abide by nastiness.

_**ALSO**_…this story is posted on _Tricky Raven_ and _Jacob Black N Pack_ because of the fact that minors are not permitted to read the smutty scenes on these sites. It's to protect the site-owners, readers, and writers, from being disbanded for underage use. Although, due to many complaints and requests, I have agreed to post _The Pack Imperative_ to TheWritersCoffeeShop which is a .com site. It's a lot more 'workable' for my readers that do not wish to give over the information required to be a part of TR and JBNP.

**_FURTHER_**...a reviewer by the name of **_asha. _** prompted me to write this note...the Bella you all love with a backbone is still there and WILL make a comeback. She isn't going to let the guys live this down. No way in Hell. She's just had a blow to her emotional standing before the spanking and needed her men in a way that they weren't. Once she gets over this hurdle she will be seeking retribution and teaching her men a lesson! And any further spankings will NOT be taken so easily.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	26. Chapter 25: Regrets, Unchangeable

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Regrets, Unchangeable**

"I'm leaving."

Those two, innocent sounding words had been the catalyst to it all.

Isabella Swan rocked back on the porch swing behind her mother's modest home, her head connecting with the hard wood of the bracers holding the seat itself aloft. Her bottom was nestled carefully into the plushness of the cushion beneath her.

_I really didn't think it'd hurt this much_. She thought to herself, her right hand rising to rub at the ache that never seemed to go away in her chest. In fact, all of her body ached. She felt as if she'd gone for a ten-mile run, fallen down the side of a mountain, got back up onto her feet for another five-mile jaunt, and then ran face-first into a wall. Her head pounded rhythmically, seeming to follow each stuttered beat of her heart.

She fought through the pain, though. She had to.

_They left me no choice_, she intoned morosely.

Thinking about the guys simultaneously depressed and enraged her. She didn't know what to do about them or the relationship they'd been building. She loved them; she knew she did with every fiber of her bring…which was why their unwillingness to listen to her had caused so much damage between them. Why she now found herself hiding at her mother's house over three-thousand miles away from the men that had broken her in a way Edward never could.

Tears prickled at her eyes, but she ruthlessly pushed them back down.

She hadn't stopped sobbing that first day. She'd fallen in and out of consciousness sporadically, the crying coming and going with her awareness. She'd only controlled herself enough to pick her father up from the hospital. He'd stayed with them at the Cabin in the other Master upstairs. Later she'd gone with the guys, at their instance, to scrounge through the wastes of the Swan home to salvage whatever she could.

_All we walked away with were the two fire-proof-safes, great-Gram's silver dining tray, and half of my baby-blanket. Ash. Everything else is ash._

She felt another stab go through her heart and had to breathe through the discomfort.

Evy had told her about this. She'd warned her.

Bella groaned in misery, hating the guys even more for what she now had to endure.

After Bonding and Mating, it was apparently a near-impossible thing for a Shapeshifter and its Mate to be separated. The Shapeshifter had the worst of it, normally unable to continue on with a normal life until its Mate was returned. They often stayed in their animal form because their mind-set was too rabid to maintain their human form for any period of time. For the Mate's part, it was a horribly uncomfortable and sometimes agonizing experience. The energy a Mate normally fed to its Shapeshifter counterpart was forced to build up in their body as it did before Bonding and Mating. The longer a Mate had been feeding her Shapeshifter, the harder it was to withstand containing the energy and power she once did on her own. Their ability to contain energy dwindled away until they were made nearly incapable of leaving their Shapeshifter.

Bella could understand that warning now.

Her body was fighting itself to keep in the energy she regularly and unconsciously transferred to her seven men. It made her sick and sore. At times the throbbing shifted to sheer agony. She thought it was because she was reaching out for them without knowing it, hoping to release what was building up, and when they weren't there she was forced to withdraw back into herself.

It about killed her.

Evy'd told her they could separate. Not permanently, no, but for a time. Her men were Alphas. She was Induja. They had strength that most other Shifters and Mates didn't. They'd pay a price for the split, but Bella had had no doubt in her mind that this needed to be done. She needed to think about what had occurred between them without their influence. They'd steamroll her if she stayed too close to them at this time.

She groaned again, this time with exasperation.

The guys had been particularly frazzled when the next morning came after they'd beaten her ass. They fawned over her, their eyes frantic. They tried to talk to her about nonsensical things, but not about what had been going on with Victoria or her opinions and decisions that had led up to that horrible session in the living room. They attempted to get her to eat, which she hadn't the mood or strength for. Several times they had tried coming into her room when she was having night-terrors to comfort her only to be sent back out by her hollowed voice. She stayed locked up in her temporary room beside her father's and ignored the words they tried to share through the door.

They cared about her, yes, but not enough. Not enough to listen to her, to try and explain themselves, or to even admit to the fact that they'd done something wrong. She suspected that they felt they had wronged her, but didn't want to admit it to even themselves. To Hell with her.

_I'm not worth it_.

A sob wracked her, but she bit into her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep it from evolving into something more.

"Bella?"

Startled, she turned her head to see her mother standing in the doorway leading back into the house. The older woman looked beyond concerned and Bella couldn't blame her. She'd been in Jacksonville for more than three days and she'd been anything but good company.

"Hey Mom." She waved to the spot beside her on the swing. "You can come sit with me if you want."

Renée, still looking young and full of life for her age, strode around the chair to sit. Her hand came to settle automatically on Bella's knee. She, in-turn, flinched. Physical contact with anyone, female, family, or otherwise hurt now. Her skin was tender as if she'd just gotten sunburned and the touch of someone's hands on her scorched like hundreds of wasp stings.

"Honey, what's wrong? Phil's gone right now and I thought we could talk." Renée pulled her hand back, apparently seeing the convulsive and unpreventable jerk in her daughter's face. "Something happened. Is it that boy again? Edward?"

Bella smiled faintly. Renée didn't know about Jacob and the others. She hadn't dared tell her mother about them outside of her 'friendship' with them. It had taken Charlie nearly being burned to death in their own home for her to gather up the courage to admit the truth to him.

Unbidden, she found herself falling back into that memory…and back into the pain of that time.

* * *

><p><em>It was three days after the fire and after Jacob had so cruelly pulled her over his lap to have her ass beaten. Three days since they ruined her trust in them. Three days of them bowing and scraping at her feet, doing anything and everything to get her to even look at them with anything but broken eyes.<em>

_And it was also the day they had planned to tell her father the whole truth._

"_Everyone's here, Bells." Jared whispered as he moved into the Study where she'd holed herself up for the past few hours. It was the first time, besides at dinner, when she had left the room she used beside her father's while hers was being repaired. The all-encompassing sorrow had made room for flickers of boredom and so she'd wandered down to the Study to do some soul-searching and research._

_She'd been forced into promising the guys she wouldn't leave the Cabin without their permission…they had their wish. She stayed. She wouldn't ask, either. She simply remained in her bedroom wasting away, listening to the guys pleading with her to come back to her old self or whimpering in wolf-form. School had been called and told that she wouldn't be returning for some time. Let them wonder if it was over the loss of her childhood home or illness. She didn't care._

_Nodding, she set down the files she'd been sifting through._

_Inside the 'decorative' boxes were files and forms from previous generations of Shapeshifters of LaPush. Bella was amazed to find that, according to the papers, that almost all of LaPush was owned by the previous generations of the Pack. The stores. Restaurants. Clothing stores. Barber and salon. All of them. It was a quiet ownership and one that needed absolutely no maintenance on the Pack's part, but it was there nonetheless._

_She wondered if the guys knew that they essentially owned the town. She'd ask them eventually, but not now. Not when everything was still so raw. There were more important things to discuss._

"_Bella?" Jared hushed as she slid by him. His big hand cuffed around her forearm, stilling her. She flinched violently, unable to keep the reaction to herself. She feared their touch now, no matter how innocent. All her mind saw or her body felt was Jacob's brutally hard hand coming down on her indefensible backside. If he could do that to her there, if they could all stand around and watch or even hold her down, what more were they capable of?_

_She knew it hurt them to see her recoil from them, but a large part of her didn't give a damn. They had damaged her both physically and emotionally. They deserved to feel at least a little of what they'd dished out onto her._

"_Please, Bella. Please don't do that." He lifted his hand as if to caress her cheek, but she jerked her head away. His hand curled into a loose fist and hung back down at his side. "We love you, sweetheart."_

"_You don't," she whispered harshly. Heat rose into her cheeks and stung her eyes. Her body wanted to cry, but she didn't cave into the impulse. She was just making day-to-day living even more of a struggle by wearing her already tired body down with tears. "You should have listened. You _would_ have listened if you really loved me."_

"_Bella, what you did was…" but she didn't let him finish. In a flash she had reached out and slapped him. It didn't hurt him, she knew, but the shock of her raising a hand to him in anger was enough to silence him._

"_Get away from me, Jared. All of you." She shoved him with all her might, her lips trembling. He stumbled back, but only half willingly. She saw it in his eyes that he wanted to hold her, to have her back. She wanted that, too, but not this way. Not with this between them._

"_I'm not doing this. I refuse." Gathering up her sweater, one of the ones she'd transferred to the Cabin before the fire so she'd have clothes both places, she moved entirely out of the male's reach. "You don't deserve what I had to give. Just go away, Jared. Go away and leave me alone."_

_She skirted around the sofa where Jacob had paddled her ass so shamelessly when she entered the living room. Evy and Billy Black were there. Evy's men nodded to her from the kitchen where they stood with Jacob, Sam, and Paul. The six Shifters looked solemn._

"_Will you please leave?" She queried softly, gesturing them and Jared, who'd followed after her, out the back door. They could run patrol with Embry and Quil for all she cared. Seth was too busy sulking outside, watching over the house and her to get involved with his brothers. She just didn't want them in the house. "I'd like this to be as contained as possible."_

"_Sure Bella." Caleb set a heavy hand onto Jacob's shoulder. "Come on, Prime. Let's go run." Quieter, but still audible to her well-trained ears, he mumbled, "She needs this, man. Don't ruin things more by staying here."_

_With Evy's men taking up the rear and making sure none of her men stayed behind, they left the house. Bella's heart wrenched to see them go and to hear them complaining to the three others that she might need them, that she wasn't well. She needed to be persistent, though. She needed to be strong because they couldn't be strong for her. Not when they were the cause of these problems._

"_Hi guys," she greeted once they were all out._

"_Hey Bella." Evy walked over slowly before hugging her tightly. Bella returned the embrace gladly. She needed this._

"_Hello Bella." Billy waved from his chair just in front of her and behind Evy. "How have you been, kid? The old-man okay?"_

"_Yeah. Dad's doing good. No more cough." She purposely left off on the assessment of herself. Anyone with eyes could see the dark circles under her blood-shot orbs and paler complexion compared to her normal, pearly skin. She knew she should be eating more, too, but she felt too sick to stomach anything more than a few pieces of toast._

"_That's good, kiddo." Saddened, she heard and saw in his manners, but he didn't push._

_Evy let her go with sympathy in her eyes. They'd talk together after she and Billy explained things further to her father. It was the entire reason why she was here._

"_I'll go get Dad since you can't go upstairs. Evy, can you stay, please? You might be able to help us field some of the questions my father'll ask."_

"_Of course, Bella. I'll help you out as much as I can."_

_She grinned, the first real smile she'd had in days. With more strength than she'd intended she pulled Evy back in for another hug. She embraced her hard, wanting the comfort of her friend almost as much as she wanted things to be right again between her and her men._

"_Thank you." She whispered in Evy's ear._

"_No problem, hun." The red-head said back._

_Letting her go, Bella made her way up to commandeer her father. She smirked to herself, thinking already of the results of a very important issue she planned to bring up with her men sometime in the near future. If she had it her way, and she'd make certain she did, she'd have Evy as a permanent residence of LaPush and a part of their Pack along with Larissa, Brady, and Collin._

Later, though. Seems like everything now is 'later'_._

…

_By the time they got downstairs and had halfway explained things to Charlie, simply adding onto what Billy had told him at the hospital with the Third Wife story, Bella was exhausted. She had a horrible headache and her father was not taking things well._

_At all._

"_Why the Hell does it have to be seven men, though?!" He demanded not for the first time. He was practically spitting he was so upset._

"_None of us chose this, Dad. It's not even something we could fight against." She leaned forward in her seat at the dining table, unable and unwilling to lounge in the room she'd been 'spanked' in. Her cold hands wrapped around her father's clenched right hand. "Daddy…could you stop loving Mom just because she left?"_

_Shocked into silence, Charlie just stared at her. His jaw stiffened._

"_This is not the same thing, Bella."_

"_You're right, it's not." She conceded. "But you still love her, right? Even though she's married to Phil and even though she took me away? You still loved me even when I refused to come back to Forks when I thought you didn't want me around? You love both of us, no matter what we did, right?"_

"_You know I do, Bells. I love you very much…and your mother." The last was begrudging. "I loved her very much and I still do."_

"_Dad, you both were meant to happen. She left and that was meant to happen, too. Everything that happens to us was meant to happen Dad, but that doesn't mean that we have to go through those preordained things not feeling either way. I was upset at first, too. Polyamory obviously isn't accepted in the world. It definitely isn't normal…and I was afraid._

"_But you know what? I wouldn't change it. They were my friends before I loved them, Dad. It just evolved into something more. I can't make myself hate any one of them or turn my back on one for the other. You loved and still do love Mom, but that doesn't mean that you don't have room in your heart to love another woman in the same way. So tell me, how is that any different than me loving multiple men at the same time?"_

_He was silent for a long minute, his face pensive._

"_I know it's not acceptable to society, Dad. I know it's going to get us into trouble and if we stay here it could mean your job, but I can't stop myself from loving each of them. We can leave if we have to," she said though she suspected now after seeing those papers that they had a few more possibilities available to them than ever before, "but I refuse to tell myself that I can love only one of them and not the others just because people are too closed-minded._

"_And I can't even do that for you." She ended somberly, looking into her father's brown eyes with naked truth._

"_This is going to take me time to get used to, Bella."_

"_I know." She assured him. Her hand patted his comfortingly. "It took me a while to face it, too."_

"_I might never accept it."_

"_I know that, too." She smiled softly, gloomily. "No matter what, though, you'll always be my father. I love you, Dad, and I really don't want you to forget that or think that I'll ever _not_ love you."_

_Charlie sighed gustily, drooping heavily into the chair-back. His gaze slid over to the other girl, a half-smirk pulling up the corner of his lips._

"_And you? How have you been with your – ahem, men?" He winced using the plural._

"_We're good, Sir." Evy chuckled a little, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's not to say that we don't fight. Every couple does. We can drive each other crazy, but I've been with them for just over two years now. I've never been happier. They care about me and do everything they can to make sure I'm content. There's not many women out there that can say that, Sir."_

"_You're right." Charlie nodded doggedly. "More than half the cases I've received on the Force have been for domestic dispute."_

_Bella flinched minutely, but thankfully went unseen by her parent. She didn't need the man to know about the recent occurrence between her and the guys. If she slipped and said one thing wrong this tenuous conversation would be blown to pieces. Charlie would never forgive her men…and while she was uncertain as to if _she_ would ever truly forgive them for ignoring her as they had, she wanted her father and them to be on even, calm ground. These were delicate times._

"_Let's talk a bit more, huh Charlie?" Billy asked, his eyes concerned as he stared at her. Bella shook her head frantically at the older man while her father's head was turned away. He'd obviously seen her earlier cringe and pieced things together. She didn't want him informing her father of anything, especially if he didn't know the whole story. "We'll discuss this and maybe watch some of a game, okay? I think the girls want to talk a bit."_

_When her father turned to her for confirmation Billy nodded sagely. She breathed out deeply, happy that the man understood her need for quiet._

"_Yeah, that sounds good, Billy." With a shaky hand Bella grabbed up Evy's own appendage. "We'll just go into the Study. There was something I wanted to show Evy anyway."_

_One their shuffling way, Evy murmured into the air, "what's up? You have something planned."_

"_Exactly how much do you know about Shapeshifters and their mates, Evy?"_

* * *

><p>It'd taken two more days, a call to the airport, and some arguing with her men, but she was finally here in Jacksonville with her mother. Charlie, she hadn't been all that surprised, was gung-ho about the idea. He knew something was wrong between them all despite the cheery façade she tried to put on for him. Visiting her mother was just another way that she could get free of them in his mind.<p>

_He's probably out practicing his skills with his shotgun…and the guys as his target_. The thought was almost wistful, but the very real fear of her father being so uncomfortable with their situation made the thought more sobering.

_Upside…I didn't have to pay for the ticket. Thank you, Cullen family_. The tickets she'd received on her birthday from them were safely tucked away in her smaller fire-safe when the house had burned.

"Bella!" She jerked violently at the shout, staring at her mother with ogled eyes.

"You weren't here with me, honey." Renée reached up as if to touch her cheek worriedly, but set it back down. Neither of them felt that secure in their love for each other to make that kind of physical contact, to give the kind of support normal mothers and daughters had been giving each other since the dawn of time.

_Well, since the first-ever daughter was born, anyway_.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I really am." She clenched her lip beneath her teeth fixatedly. The sting from the bite only minutes earlier helped to ground her.

"Bella, what exactly is going on?" Renée stared at her intently. "I know I haven't been the best mother – probably not even motherly at all, but I want to be able to help you. Is it Charlie? Do you want to come live here with me and Phil?"

"No!" She cried, horrified. She could already feel the burning pain in her chest and the ache in her bones tripling and quadrupling until it was all she could think about. She couldn't leave them. She was Bound to them now, for better or for worse. She would never be able to truly leave them without killing herself internally…possibly even physically.

"They didn't do it on purpose or knowingly, hun," Evy had told her. "It just – happens! I guess it's Fate's quirky sense of humor. Mates and Shifters are meant to be together and Fate or God or whatever is out there made it so that we'll stick to our other halves. Our bodies revolt against us if we don't."

It wasn't fair. Not by a long shot, but she had committed to this. To them. There was no backing out now. She had to work something out, either with herself, with them, or both. She was tied to them until the very end.

The older brunette gaped at her in amazement. Flushing brightly, Bella turned her head away. She felt chastened without being verbally assaulted.

"No," she waded back into the conversation. "It's not Dad. I actually love it in Washington…minus the cold. I could do without the cold. I like being a part of a small town."

"You never did like the city much," her mother agreed readily enough.

"It's too chaotic." She returned distractedly. This wasn't the conversation she or her mother was shooting for, she was sure. "Dad's been great. I'm sorry I never spent more time with him. Our time together was nice, too, but I missed a lot not having him there, you know?"

"I do," Renée glanced at her with guilty sorrow.

Not wanting to continue down a path that would bring awkwardness into the tête-à-tête they were having Bella diverted the topic. Deep down she understood that she was also avoiding having to look her mother in the eye and confirm the truth of those words…that Renée was a lacking mother.

"It's not Edward," she said instead. She was fighting with timidity. How was she going to broach this without sounding so much like the slut she'd first thought she was? "I've pretty much gotten over us. We weren't meant to be. I was more in love with the idea of being in love and made him out to be the man he wasn't. I think I've accepted that."

"Then what is it?" Her mother smirked faintly. "Don't think your scatterbrained mother can understand, hmm?"

Bella grimaced a smile at the small joke, but still squirmed on the cushion under her. Her ass still stung! The bruises were still there; plain in their hatred of her every day she took a shower and pulled her pants on.

She'd decided before even getting on the flight to Jacksonville that she _needed_ to remain silent about Shapeshifters and vampires. The knowledge of their existence couldn't be left to chance. Besides possibly opening her mother up to the dangers of the Other side of their world by making her 'in-the-know' she would also be running the risk of their secret being let out if Renée was shaken too badly by Normal circumstances or otherwise. She didn't doubt that the woman was too weak emotionally to deal with Supes. She couldn't be trusted and though it broke her heart to think that her mother would never know the full truth it was far more important to keep her family safe and happy.

_It's for her own good_, she thought sullenly.

"Do you remember Jacob Black?" _Slowly. Go slowly_.

"Of course." Renée beamed grandly. "Sarah and Billy's son. Such a sweet boy. Does he still live on the Reservation or has he moved away like his sisters?"

_Focus!_ The inner her snarled, rolling her proverbial eyes. Her mother was always like this. Ditzy and unable to stay on one topic for any lengthy period of time.

"No. He still lives on the Rez. Embry and Quil, too." She scratched at the back of her neck absently. There was no itch. She just needed to do something to keep her hands busy so she didn't end up displaying her nerves through quaking fingers. "I've been spending a lot of time with them and some others. Harry Clearwater's son, Seth, too."

"Well, it's good you have some new friends. Isn't it?"

"Yeah," she allowed gently. Back to kneading at her lip. "I, uh, we aren't just friends. Not anymore, anyway."

Renée cocked an eyebrow at her daughter, her lips suddenly thinned. "What are you talking about, Bella?"

"Do you, uh, know what polyamory is? Ménage?" Renée's face darkened dangerously. It sent chills down Bella's spine. She'd never known her mother to look so…serious and stalwart. "Momma?"

"Are you physically involved with multiple men, Bella?" The stark, flat tone she used had Bella nodding obediently and utterly silent. "Do you know what that's going to mean for you? For all of you? Do you understand what you're going to be faced with in the future? Whether this is permanent or not, it's not something that will just be forgotten. Do you get what this will mean for you, Bella?"

Tears prickled, but she nodded mutely.

Renée turned away from her. Her jaw was set stubbornly, perhaps even angrily. Bella stared at her in amazement. Was this really her mother? Was this the same Renée Dwyer that so often ran away from her problems and pranced around as if nothing was wrong with the world?

_Maybe Phil's been good for her_. She wondered idly.

"Mom? Talk to me. Please?"

"Do you remember Grandma Marie? My mother?"

She did. She'd spent a fair amount of time with her mother's mother when Charlie and Renée first divorced. Marie was a terribly stern woman. She often made Bella think of a drill sergeant. She also spoiled Bella rotten when she got the chance to have her granddaughter alone while Renée went back to school for teaching.

"Yes."

"My father…my father left my mother before I was born. She contacted him, of course, and we got regular child-support payments. Your grandmother never looked for another man. She wasn't interested." The aged brunette's leg began to jiggle. "I used to ask about him a lot. What was he like? Why he left. Did she still love him…"

Eyes glistening, her mother set sights on her for a long moment. "Your grandfather left your grandmother for another woman. He was a good man, according to Mom, but he loved someone else more. And he wasn't the only one."

_Huh?_ She bug-eyed. All breathing stopped.

"Your grandfather, my father, shared the love of another woman with his cousin." Renée shifted so that they were sitting front-to-front. She grabbed the younger one's hands, holding them tightly. Bella watched as long-suppressed hurt flared across her elder's face. Her own physical discomfort at the active touch was placed on a backburner for that shattered look. "My mother was hurt by him, Bella, and what he chose damned her. She wasn't welcome back in our hometown because they knew what life my father chose and thought she chose that way, too.

"People are judgmental, Bella. It's everywhere. There's no escaping it. If you want this, if you want to be in a relationship like that, be _sure_. Be surer than anything else in your life."

Bella fidgeted. Her mind was racing.

_Was my grandfather a Shifter? My God! If he was that could explain how I ended up being an Induja._ It sickened her to think that her biological grandfather could have left her grandmother Maria, but if he was a Shifter and met his Mate it would make complete sense. She knew from experience with her own mates that wanting to be with them was an impossible-to-resist temptation. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself from going after his Mate. Just like her men couldn't leave her alone or let just one of them have her over the others. It wasn't just a want. It was a need.

_Shit, maybe Shifter genes do pass through the generations as pure as any 'full-bred' mix would? I need to ask Evy more about this Supernatural crap._

What was more was that her mother knew about ménage relationships. Maybe not personally or from a secondary point of view, but she knew _of_ them. She didn't seem to totally distrust that kind of life-choice, either. She was just worried. She'd seen what it'd done to her mother indirectly. She didn't want her daughter to be as forcefully-removed from society as Marie had been.

_It's unavoidable_, she asserted in her own mind. _It's deviant behavior and deviant behavior is dealt with by way of exclusion…but I knew that already. I was ready to face that so long as they would be with me_.

And therein lay the rub.

_I don't have them with me because I can't trust them anymore. Not with my heart. Not when they can so easily discredited my words and forgot about what I need the most._ She needed time. She needed time, and talk, and reassurances. She needed them to prove to her that they could be better than they acted…that they could live up to their vows.

_I won't let them fail me again_.

"Bella?" For what seemed like the hundredth time she found her attention jerked back into the moment. Renée stared at her soundlessly, but in a profound way. Like she'd seen something she hadn't expected. "You – you love them, don't you, honey?"

Smiling sorrowfully, she bobbed her head up and down with exaggerated slowness. She did. She still loved them. What they did to her wouldn't change that.

"But we can't be together the way we want right now." She finished her thought aloud. Renée's brows furrowed. Sighing gustily, Bella pushed on. "It's why I left. They did something bad. They, uh, they didn't trust me. They couldn't put me first. All that mattered was them." She was going to leave out that they beat her ass. That the marks of Jacob's hand still 'shone' on her derriere. Her mother didn't need to know about the physical abuse she'd suffered as well as the emotional.

_Just like Dad didn't_.

"Can you forgive them?" It was asked in a way that Bella knew her mother was looking more for her to look inside her own mind to figure it out. She didn't desire an actual 'yes' or 'no' answer to fall from her mouth.

"I – I don't know." Her voice stuttered and quaked. She cleared it loudly. "It hurt. I can't tell you how much it hurt. I don't want to go through that again."

Silence hung between them like a veil. Dark and shadowed. Bella ticked her head back, setting it against the supports. Her mother swung a leg to propel them into motion. The seat swayed back and forth gently, the far warmer air of Florida brushing across their cheeks.

"Why did you come down here, Bella? Really?" Renée sounded as morose as she felt.

Sigh. "I needed space. I needed to be away from them to decide what I want."

"And do you know what you want?"

A self-depreciating smile crossed her lips. Slowly, deliberately, she faced her mother. Brown eyes clashed with familial brown.

"I want none of this to have happened." She murmured just loud enough to be heard. Pain ripped through her chest with the denial of her connection to her men, but she trudged on. "I wish I'd have stayed with you and avoided all of this Hell I've gone through.

"_But_," she clipped out between bowed lips, "I don't want to lose what I've gained. I have friends now. Men I still love. I have a dad again, not just a father. I wouldn't give any of them up. I just wish it'd been easier to _get_ to the good stuff without having to face the bad."

"Nothing in life is ever easy, honey." Snatching a glance back to the house, Renée beamed widely. Bella pivoted, too, to see Phil standing in the doorway nodding.

Her brows furrowed.

"Come inside with us, Bella. We have something for you."

Bella watched her mother rise and practically skip to her far younger husband. It was entirely touching to see Renée so whimsical and happy, but also caused her internal suffering to watch the couple embrace and kiss lovingly. Jealousy flared its ugly head for only a moment, but it was long enough to lament over.

_I have things to think about. Decisions to make_.

Rising, she glanced up from beneath her lashes to see her mother staring at Phil with adoration, his own eyes mirroring her elated emotions.

_Hopefully I can make the right choices_.

She had three more days in Florida before she had to go home…before the pain became unbearable. She'd use them to their fullest now that she'd gotten the worst of the weight off of her chest. She wouldn't squander time.

Padding into the house, Bella gasped.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile…<p>

The sand-colored wolf lumbered through the break in the woods leading into a now sparse clearing. The grass had been torn up by their fighting. Nearby trees were either felled or stripped of their barks from massive hits to their trunks. Wolf fur of all colors dotted the semi-dry, semi-muddy ground.

It looked like a cage-match for pissed-pussycats had taken place fairly recently.

Huffing, Seth dropped to his stomach on the well-worn ground. He burrowed his head into his paws, despair quieting his louder howls in favor of consistent, disparaging whimpers. He'd not left this spot by more distance or time than it took to run Patrol and return for fear that she would reappear and need him. _Want_ him. He wanted to be near home. He wanted to be the first one she came to, _if_ she decided to, when she came _home_.

Whimpering soulfully, he felt deep in his rattling, aching bones that this was his mate's home. She would come back to them. To him. She would. She loved them enough to forgive them for what they'd so foolishly, horridly done to her.

Harsh snarling in the distance barely roused his interest.

They were barely human anymore. They hadn't been able to Shift back into human form since Bella had left them to see her mother. _Far_ _away._ They could barely function enough now to protect their lands as they were born to. All they seemed capable of was fighting between them, hating each other and themselves for pushing her away so thoroughly. They'd accomplished what the fucking leech had never been able to do.

They'd destroyed the trust their mate had in them.

_Fucking liar!_ The beast and man in him thundered. _You swore to her! You fucking swore to her that you would do nothing to hurt her. You would protect her! She is all we are and ever will be and you scared her away. You made her tremble and cry and _hurt_!_

The condemning words had been cycling through his head, their heads, for days.

Foolishly, they'd thought that just maybe she'd forgive them after they'd beaten her. She was a self-sacrificing, beautifully kind individual. She could see through so many faults of any and every-one. She was goodness incarnated.

And yet she'd been unable to look at them.

_Fuck!_

He'd been unable to tear his eyes off of her. Or more readily, he'd been unable to pull his eyes away from the veracious welts across her milky-white ass. The area wasn't just red. Jacob had pelted her ass so hard it had bruised, which was no small feat considering a well-rounded rear was a difficult thing to raise blue-purple marks on. It took massive force. It took diligence and controlled hits.

_Fuck them all!_

He tore himself apart for not letting himself see, hear, or _feel_ it to begin with. He was so caught up in his own selfish rage that he'd discounted the only meaningful thing in his life. He had shoved the scent of her _fear_ out of his mind. Her pain had meant nothing. Simply that she would listen to them from then on and be safe.

It had all backfired.

She was the single most important thing in his life and he had had a hand in chasing her away from them.

For the three days they'd had her before her flight, both figuratively and literally, he'd lain outside her door in wolf form. He'd eyed the full trays of food they'd shuttled up to her temporary room and back down again when it was clear that she would not touch them. The silver tray always glinted evilly at him, taunting him. It harassed him silently. It screamed out its disapproval of them, reminding him that it was their fault that their mate now starved herself. She had always been thin, possibly too thin…

Seth shuddered to his clawed toes, not even able to bear the image of seeing Bella's already slight frame withering away to nothing.

Charlie never spoke to them. Not directly. He glowered at them with a fiery passion. The man, Seth was certain, knew nothing of what they'd done to his daughter despite her pained wobbling, but he clearly was upset with them. Such a little worry he was, though, in comparison to what they stood to lose if they couldn't earn Bella's forgiveness and win back her trust.

Embry limped into the clearing while he was lost in his thoughts and those he shared with the others, which all but mirrored his own. Embry's yellowed eyes flickered over his splayed form before huffing and leaning his only slightly larger body into the side of his sand-colored one. The spotted wolf's nose sniffed and then nipped encouragingly at his ear before slumping over the column of his neck.

Both wolves stared at nothing in particular, listening only to their brothers' outrageous obscenities as they fought and the quiet of the woods beyond the little Hell they'd made for themselves.

"She'll come back," Evy had said the day Bella had left to Jacksonville. They had stared down at the petite woman with disparaging eyes. The fliers at the Seattle Airport had given them a wide berth, most likely sensing the animal so poorly leashed within them. Evy's men were stiff and had built up a wall of their solid muscle around their mate to keep her safe. From them. Alphas.

_Pussy-whipped butches_. Paul threw into their shared mind ragingly.

"You all fucked up. Royally." Evy glared at them, her eyes changing to an almost icy shade. Her red hair caught in the florescent lights as though they were tendrils of fire crackling. "I'd have wanted to beat the shit out of you guys and I bet she probably does too. If not for any other reason, she'll come back to make you guys sorry."

Obviously the girl had been clued into what they'd done to their own mate.

"But, I think she loves you guys too much to just walk away. She'll come back when she's ready; when she thinks she can struggle through what you all forced her to think about. Personally, I hope she gets you all neutered."

Both Seth and Embry flinched in memory of that particular comment and blow to their already depleted egos.

As she'd walked away with her Shifters in tow, Evy had made one last statement. It was morbid and melancholy, but they hung off every word.

"She's going to come back feeling almost as bad as you guys are feeling. Being apart from your other half is not a nice experience. Take your chance to look after her while you can, because once she's feeling better you all will be in the proverbial doghouse."

Seth didn't know how to make things better. None of them did.

The physical pain he felt, the madness encroaching upon his mind with every breath he took minus the scent of his one true mate, was nothing compared to the desolation he felt at possibly never receiving Bella's loving gaze again.

For hours they lay there, one by one joined by the others. The pups, the poor sots, had been saddled with the brunt of the Patrols. Their Alphas were non-functioning for the most part. Even Evy's men, Caleb, Boone, and Daire had come to run with the pups. Seth was certain that their measly Pack would have fallen apart without their guidance and help.

_It might still fall apart_.

Refusing to think more on it, Seth settled in with his brothers. The peace between them would only last as long as it took for them to regain their strength. After that it would be back to scrapping and howling, each of them mourning for the mate that no longer wanted them.

_And I can't blame her_.

Despite it all, though, he wanted her back.

He prayed for the first time in years that night…prayed to the Spirits and every other Deity out there that they would show mercy and help him to get his beloved back.

Echoes of 'Amen' sounded in his mind from his brothers, most beyond Normal thought any longer.

_Come back, Bella, my mate. _Please_ come back_.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Notes<span>:** Hello all. I know. Long-ass time to update. I won't make excuses. I simply just did not like this chapter as many times as I wrote it and re-wrote it. Finally inspiration struck and I was able to get to it. Beyond that I've been exceptionally busy with my real-life. Anyway, here's the next chapter and I hope it's enjoyable.

And to note, on the previous chapter, I in no way, shape, or form agree with abuse. It is a vile thing whether it's mentally or physically. Neither do I care if it's abuse from a man or a woman…abuse in any form is wrong.

Thank you for sticking with me. Happy reading, happy holidays in case I don't get another update up before Christmas (though I sincerely hope I'll have one ready), and please feel free to review at your leisure.

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	27. Chapter 26: Deserving

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Deserving**

The pain had come to a crescendo.

Isabella Swan stumbled sluggishly and painfully through the Sea-Tac Airport, intent on reaching baggage claim. She noted several glances sent her way by the other travelers, but ignored them. She was in pain, tired, hungry, and unbearably cranky. If any of them had the nerve to address her in any way she'd be willing to bet she'd bite their heads off.

Walking past a bank of windows, their surfaces reflective, Bella glanced in at herself. She flinched inwardly and outwardly.

She looked like Hell.

Reaching up with a pale, shaking hand, she rubbed at a darkened smudge under her eyes. Instead of being 'simple' dark circles that signified lack of sleep it appeared to any onlooker that she had had a difficult time of removing dark make-up. They were incredibly dark and deep. She looked like a life-long insomniac. Behind those smudges, though, were dulled brown eyes and a fierce scowl she'd sported since the discomfort had morphed into constant pain. She'd resorted to wearing loose, drawstring pants and a baggy tank-top or sweater to keep the suddenly abrasive feeling of all kinds of fabrics from clawing at her tender skin.

She resembled a frumpy, anorexic Goth

Disgusted, she continued on. Her spine alternated from being too stiff to bend to being broken-down-baby-doll-esque. On her last day in Florida she'd spent the bulk of her time lying stomach-down on her bed with a heating pad on her lower back.

The Mark at her neck burned like fire…unendingly.

"Bella!"

She froze solid at the excited scream. Turning slowly, half expecting Alice Cullen to pounce on her with the displayed exuberance, Bella eyed the crowd swelling around her. Tipping her eyes upward she could see the faces of three men.

For the first time in some days she let a relieved smile slip into place over her lips.

"Not them," she whispered in fervent thanks.

The three towering men cleared the way straight to her, the crowd parting as if in the Exodus. Men like Caleb, Boone, and Daire exuded an air of power that most people bowed to and respected. Wherever they walked they were granted the room to maneuver on the grounds that their presence instinctually pushed others in a way that benefited them.

Funny, though, that she never felt smothered by that strength and power. Not even by her own men. She didn't feel greater than any of them, certainly, but neither did she feel beneath their attention. Equal but not.

Rushing in front of them like a jackrabbit on crack was Evy.

Once the way was cleared enough, Evy ran straight for her. Bella held up her hands fearfully, not ready to make physical contact with anyone at this point. She wanted to…_desperately_, but her body ached so. She hadn't even been able to give her mother more than a jerky, one-armed hug and a peck on the cheek before she'd all but run into the plane and hidden in the bathroom cubical to shudder in agony.

Evy looked at her with pity and empathy.

"I'm so sorry, honey." Evy's hands wrung tightly at her sides. Her lips were pursed, stormy eyes twinkling. She looked about as irritated as Bella felt miserable, which was a considerably large amount. "This shouldn't have had to have happened."

"But it did," she rasped back, plainly displaying her discomfort.

The three big men came up then behind their much smaller mate. Caleb stood to the middle of the group and rested his hands on the red-head's shoulders. Bella didn't miss how his great fingers kneaded gently on the sleek blades beneath his palms. Nor did she misinterpret the way Evy leaned back into his firm support and show of comfort.

"How are they?" She asked despite her resolve to not inquire after them. She'd gone all week with only speaking to her mother, Phil, and Evy, though Evy's conversations with her were over the phone. She had refused to speak with them for fear of breaking down and screaming for them to come take her home.

She felt, _almost_, that anything was better than the pain.

"They aren't well," Boone spoke softly. His eyes were soft and regretful as he looked her up and down. No doubt he could see how run-down she was. It wasn't something she could hide from anyone now. Make-up would have only exaggerated the problem even if she did use the cakey-stuff.

"Have they been taking care of themselves? The tribe?" Her brows drew down deeply and her teeth gritted. She would be upset if they entirely forgot about their own needs and the protection of their Tribe. Pain or not, mate or not, she had made it clear that she was going to return. She didn't spend her time away from them waiting to die, though she felt like she was on the verge of death at times, and she expected them to have taken the time she'd forced onto them all to _think_.

_Not piss and moan and make everyone else miserable_.

"Not at first," Daire admitted warily. His right hand sought out Evy's as if in security. Was he afraid of her? She didn't think so, but she couldn't be positive. None of them revealed their emotions outwardly in public.

_Well, not the ones that matter, anyway_.

"They were being dumb shits," Evy interjected bluntly, her lips frowning up at her men. All three winced and seemed to shrink back from the tiny female. The two women connected eyes after a moment. "They were fighting. Ruined a nice patch of land near the Cabin's property. When they weren't fighting they were moping."

Bella ignored the clenching in her chest and the screaming pain in her back. It wasn't easy, but she'd been doing it for a week. Her exasperation was at the forefront at the moment.

"They were acting like children?" She asked with carefully controlled calm. The three men eyed her with some trepidation while Evy smirked. "Who watched over the Tribe? Who was helping the Pups? Did they not even think about _why_ I left?!" The last of it was hissed out between her clenched teeth.

_Fucking figures!_ The inner her roared. Flames practically danced around her subconscious self. _I leave because of what they did, how far out of hand they took things, and they don't even bother to try and reason why I felt I had to go? They don't even try to see things from my point of view and just wallow in their own self-pity?!_

She hadn't felt this kind of leashed anger for a long while. She'd been mad, certainly, when they'd first humiliated her. She had felt stirrings of it all during her stay with her mother. Now, however, she was cracked. Sure, she hadn't explained everything before she left, but she hadn't understood everything herself at the time. She couldn't explain anything to them on which she was heated over or unsure of. It would have only made things worse.

"They did." Caleb interrupted her grinding and grating with clear apprehension in his voice. Outwardly he looked unphased, but in his tone she could tell that he was unnerved by her. Was it because she was Induja?

"When?" She demanded hotly.

"When I told them off," Evy grinned triumphantly. She waved behind her towards baggage claim. "Let's go get your things, okay? We'll get them while they're still on the belt."

Bella nodded, charging behind her friend. The men hung back a short ways from them both, though they kept guard. Daire even snatched up her arm when she swayed on her feet from a wave of pain sweeping from her upper back to lower. Her knees shook for a short time, but Daire kept her on her feet. Out of her peripheral she could see Evy nibbling at her lips with tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she shrugged the man off gently and restored her footing. Evy nodded jerkily before leading them again at a much slower pace.

Airline patrons carefully kept their distance as they made their way through the terminal. Bella knew immediate relief that people weren't accidently bumping into her as they had been at the Jacksonville Airport. The contact had been unwanted and uncomfortable. It would have been unbearable as bad-off as she was currently.

At the claim-belt for her flight there were only a few bags left. Boone darted forward as they hung back to collect her duffel. She smirked knowing what he'd find right with it.

_Three_.

"Did you have fun with your mother while you were gone, Bella?" Evy inquired conversationally. She in-turn nodded, slow though it was.

_Two_.

"Oh yeah. We talked better than we have in years. I think I might need your help with something, though." Evy gave her a funny look, but assented with a single bob of her head. Bella beamed genuinely. "I've got a surprise for the guys."

_One_.

The corner of the red-head's lips tipped upward in a mischievous smirk. "What kind of surprise?"

"What the fuck is _this_?!"

_KABOOM!_ The inner her chortled with mirth.

* * *

><p>Jacob paced the graveled drive between the Cabin and the road. His fur was bristled and his lips quivered over his maw in aggravation.<p>

He'd been unable to shift back to human fully since their mate had left. It was by sheer force of will alone that he was able to manage to maintain the form of the Wolfen creature of that in-between stage. His brothers had been the same. None of them were calm enough to stay human. Bella was their link to that humanity and without her they had no hope of being 'normal' again.

_Where the fuck is she?!_ Paul snarled near their mate's parked truck. She hadn't taken it when Evy and her men had taken her to the SeaTac airport. His silvered fur rippled as his desire to shift back to full-wolf grew. _What if there was an accident? It shouldn't take this long to get back from Seattle._

_Maybe the flight was delayed._ Seth inserted pathetically. His own maw ground with irritation and betrayed his calmer thoughts for what they really were. Excuses.

_Bull shit._ Sam snapped. Black claws flexed. _If the flight was late they would have called. We'd have known._

_Well we'd sure as fuck know if she was injured!_ Embry erupted, his meaty, clawed fist striking a nearby tree. A large mass of trunk and stem were pounded from the stalk with that single hit. _I'm tense as fuck, man. Stop making me think even worse is happening. I don't know how much more I can take._

They were all on the brink. Not a single one of them doubted the reality that without Bella, for even one more day, they would be broken. They would succumb to their wolves entirely. Come Hell or high water, they would track her down and drag her back home where they'd stand guard over her for the rest of their lives. It didn't matter who or what got in the way. Nothing and no one would prevent them from having their mate with them again.

_Never again_, he swore fervently in his own mind.

He understood now what the trio of wolves had meant by saying a wolf went insane without its mate. His sanity had ebbed away to nearly nothing with each day that passed. His every thought was consumed with her. His body ached for her both physically and mentally. He needed to be able to feel her again in every way.

He needed to make things right.

_The start_, Jared growled while clenching his claws reflexively at his sides, _is begging her forgiveness_.

Jacob whirled and snarled at his brother. Jared crouched and growled back, his muscles coiled. It'd been like this for so long. They were all turning on each other like thieves looking for an escape from a bad heist. Every wolf for himself. The pack mentality, their togetherness, was shattered without the tie that held them all together so completely…Bella.

_Fucking calm down!_ Sam roared, smashing balled-up fists into both of their faces in their distraction. Jacob cupped his claws over his snout, sending waves of fury at his Beta. Jared shook his head like a wet dog, dispelling the pain as easily as if it was water. His yellowed eyes glared at the higher-ranked wolf. _She can't see us like this. We need to be ready for her, dammit!_

_I won't ask forgiveness for punishing my mate for something she did wrong._ Jacob intoned harshly, ignoring the 'calming' technique of the black wolf.

_She didn't do anything wrong enough to deserve what we did!_

All of their heads snapped around to see Seth seething beside one of the frost-covered gardens. The season was growing late and the air was growing colder yet. Before long they could expect snow.

_She deserved to be scolded, not beaten._ Seth's entire form shuddered. _That's what we did. We fucking beat her. She nearly died that day. She was drowning. There was no way she could have known for sure that she saw that leech. …And Charlie…she's so close to him. She was aching over what happened. Even without us you _know_ she was blaming herself. We just helped to reaffirm to her, purposely or not, that it was _her_ fault that her father nearly died._

_It makes me damn sick to know that I ignored her begging us to listen. Can you tell me you can't hear her screaming still in your minds? You can't, can you? I can hear it in your heads, too!_ Seth gripped his canine-like head between his paws. _I can't forget her pain. I can't forget the way she looked at me afterwards. She was dead! We scared her away. We refused to be the mates she needed and she ran away!_

The young wolf howled then. The sound rent the air, so horrid and sorrowful Jacob found himself howling in chorus with him. Just as swiftly his brothers had joined in, a piteous wailing echoing throughout the entire Peninsula.

By the time the Call had died, all of them stood stalk-still. Their eyes settled on the ground beneath their inhuman feet, unable to do anything in that moment besides drown in the somber silence left in the howls' wake.

Finally, after several minutes, Jake released a shaky sigh. His stomach felt like it was pressed just beneath his heart. He was sick with hatred in himself.

Seth had spoken the full truth. They all shared the same thoughts, all but lived within the same mind, since they'd first Shifted. It'd only grown more intense since mating Bella. They were as close to being a single entity as they could be while still occupying separate bodies. Every piece of sense one of them made to the incident so many nights ago when they'd ruined everything was shared instantly. The pieces molded together to solve a rather simplistic puzzle they'd been too ignorant to erect.

They were responsible for the fact that their beloved mate no longer wished to be with them.

_She's coming back_, Quil spoke softly. They all looked to him. His medium-brown fur billowed a little in the wind. His eyes glowed as he looked back at them all. _We're all bound. We're mates. She's ours. She can't leave and neither can we. Evy said it…we have time. We'll make it up to her. We _have_ to._

If they didn't was left unsaid.

For almost a half an hour more they paced like caged animals. Every twig that snapped, every odd scent that blew past their noses, had them stiffening and ready to pounce. They were on high-alert. No one and nothing would get between them all.

_Especially not some bitch-leech_. They all huffed in agreement at Paul's flat statement.

Then, finally, after so much time, they felt the bonds that they shared with Bella snap so solidly back into place that it was narrowly orgasmic. Three of them, Seth, Jared, and Embry, even fell to their knees with the feeling of their mate returning to their protective circle.

_She's back!_ Was the chorus.

Jacob forced himself still. He made himself not run to her. Instead he concentrated on the emotions, bleak as they were, transferring to him via his mate for the first time in a week. They were glorious in comparison to the nothingness he'd felt before. They'd been aware of her existence, or rather her absence, acutely. They had been slowly torn asunder during her time away. Now, however, she was back in his mind and his awareness. She was a part of him again!

With the awareness, though, came power.

_Oh Spirits!_

His body shook and trembled with the surge of pure, raw energy that slammed over him like a great wave. He found himself howling again, unable to control himself. Arousal zinged through his crotch while adrenalin kicked his muscles into a state of rigidity unsurpassable by man or Supe. The energy swirled around inside of him, in all of them, before settling in their every pore. The power hugged around him like another skin.

_Shit_, he gasped, drawing in unsteady breaths of air.

_Dude, that was fucking intense._ Brady broke into their minds from a distance.

They all growled. _Back to Patrol, _Pup_!_

Brady and Collin snickered. _Sure thing, Boss_.

_Fucking kids_, he thought to himself, knowing they'd _all_ overhear it. His immediate brothers snorted agreement to that statement. They'd all be better once they could reclaim Bella and get back to their 'normal' lives. The pups were learning their duty as Protectors, but they were still new to the whole Shifter world and were trying, unsuccessfully, to woo their own mate.

They were all a sorry lot.

They remained immobile as the truck Evy and her mates took to retrieve Bella rolled up the drive minutes later. He saw his brothers restrain themselves. They wanted to rush to her, but they wouldn't. They felt something through the bond…

Boone and Daire leapt from the bed of the truck with tense faces. Caleb removed himself from the driver's side and shot them all a pensive look. Evy, Jacob could see, was giggling like a mad-woman as Daire aided her out of the driver's side of the truck. Truthfully, the joyful sound was closer to a cackle than a giggle.

"You're gonna get it," she chanted lightly as she all but skipped around to the passenger side door. Their jaws clenched. Had Evy not been a mate and Bella's closest friend Jacob had a feeling he would have gladly shaken some sense into her fool head. Didn't she know it wasn't wise to antagonize predators?

Evy quickly changed persona, however, when Boone opened the passenger door to allow Bella out. Her face showed complete and sincere empathy as Bella made her slow, agonizing way out of the truck. His mate's pale hands shook as she set them into Evangeline's for balance. He could see the strain in her face and feel both exhaustion, despair, and dulling pain radiating off of her.

He couldn't remain still any longer.

Jacob charged forward and carefully, yet quickly, collected Bella into his arms before her feet had made complete contact with the stone drive.

"Ohh," Bella moaned as he drew her up into his arms and cuddled her close to his chest. A rumbling purr dribbled from his chest when she snuggled into him. His brothers gathered around him, all of them petting and rubbing up into her body. They couldn't contain themselves. They couldn't be away from her. Not now.

_Not ever again_, they barked at him inwardly echoing his earlier thoughts.

"I'm still mad at you," she slurred into his chest. Sleep was coming over her rapidly.

He rubbed the underside of his chin into her scalp.

She yawned. "Bed, please. I wanna talk when I wake up." They all eagerly bobbed their heads and purred which was the only verbal response they could make that she would understand in this form. Her eyes were already closed.

She was sleeping almost instantly.

Worried, Jacob began to carry her back to the Cabin where they'd settle her into her bed, safe and warm, and then curl up around her either on the bed or the floor. They wouldn't let her out of their sights for the foreseeable future.

"Yoo-hoo!" Evy sang from behind them. Jacob stiffened imperceptibly, but turned. It would be best not to ignore her. The smile splitting her face in two was nothing but pure evil. "Don't forget this!"

Jake glared at what was in her hands and felt his nose twitch.

_No fucking way!_

* * *

><p>Bella snuggled into the ultra-soft fur cuddled up in front of her face. Her hand reached up automatically to caress her fingers through the plush softness. A purr resounded through her ears in response. A smile ticked her lips upwards. It sounded like an old boat motor with how close her ear was to the source.<p>

"That thing is not staying here," a husky baritone she was all too familiar with broke through the fog clouding her mind so pleasantly.

"She's _not_ a thing," she slurred huffily. Peeking her eyes open, she set them onto the grey and black-striped ball of fluff pressed against her cheek. The smile arose again. "Her name's Lily and she is _mine_."

Groaning, Bella lifted her body upwards. She winced as she went. The aching misery she'd felt since leaving them was diminishing, but slowly. Two scorching hot hands came to aid her, one to her back between her shoulders and the other pressed into her flat stomach. Despite everything they'd gone through, she felt her body reacting in the positive to the physical contact being given to her.

With a half-disgruntled sigh she glanced down at the bit of fluff that had taken its chance to maneuver over her lap and into the apex of her blanket-covered thighs. The several growls in the room that followed the movement of the creature went entirely ignored by both she and her new pet.

"Mom got me a kitten," she informed them unnecessarily. Their grunts and moans of displeasure fueled a kind of sadistic humor inside of her which had the inner Bella doing a jig of superiority.

Her eyes trailed over the frail, lithe form of her new kitten. She was an adorable little thing barely twice the size of her fist, which was dainty anyway. Her coloring was a mid-grey base with pitch-black striping all over. The only bit of white on her entire body was her whiskered mouth and chin. Her long tail currently flicked casually against Bella's thighs as she stared up at her new Mistress with shining gold eyes. A rather loud purr suffused the air and made Bella chuckle when it was replied to with a growl from one of her men.

"She's staying here. With me." Her eyes glared at the completely naked men in the bedroom that was hers at the Cabin. Under normal circumstances she had no doubt that she'd be blushing like a virgin at their lack of self-consciousness, but she was still very upset with them over what they'd done and what they seemed to think they would do now if she gave even an inch. She was about to wipe the idea right out of their heads. "Lily is _my_ kitten and y'all _will_ respect her in this house. She isn't going anywhere. Ever. If any of you even think of scaring her I'll gladly find a way to retrofit a shock-collar around your necks!"

Their looks were a mixture of disbelief and slight irritation. Deciding to make the proverbial hit below the belt, Bella allowed her voice to go flat and nearly emotionless.

"After all you've done to me and all we've been through, you're going to fight over this?" Jacob, the one nearest to her, widened his eyes almost comically.

Needing physical comfort, a thing she didn't dare ask for from them, Bella reached down and picked Lily up to cuddle her into her upper chest where her downy-soft fur could caress the underside of her chin. The kitten's purrs ratcheted up higher as she scratched her nails into the fur of her neck and side.

"Bella," Jacob began only to be cut off by Seth forcefully tossing the bigger male out of his way. Bella gaped as Seth's right arm swung, his fist having been closed around the cuff of Jake's neck, and then released. Jacob literally tumbled across the room.

"Don't start, _Alpha_," the youngest of her mates spat with pure venom in his husky voice. Jake snarled, but surprisingly stayed down on the ground where he'd been tossed. Seth stood facing his Prime and the others, his back quivering with rage. She could feel it radiating off of him and taste it through their bond.

"We were wrong," Seth snarled. She watched avidly as his fingers sharpened into claws and his size grew ever so slightly, but remained closer to human than the wolfman form would allow. She knew if she were to see his face that his eyes would be glowing yellow. "I was wrong."

Unable to control her body's urges, she stretched her hand out, still keeping Lily tucked to her chest, and slid it along Seth's knuckles. He hardened and stilled his stance, but didn't look at her. He did, however, allow the hand she was soothing to open so that her fingers could trail across his palm and finger-pads, cautious of the vicious claws there.

"I know that, dammit!" Jake barked as he stood to his bare feet. To her eye they all looked more like animals than ever before. Evy'd told her they weren't themselves and all that had been happening with them since she'd left, but she understood now that she'd had to see it to believe it. She was seeing it now.

"No you don't!" She half expected Seth to snap his jaws at his leader. He was feral and completely unlike himself. "None of you fuckin' do!" His brothers snarled loudly, scaring Lily and her. Lily's tail fluffed and her own hackles rose at the back of her neck. Seth's fingers squeezed hers in comfort.

"All this time I've been thinking while you all have bitched and whined and fought each other. I missed Bella. I wanted her back."

"Don't start that shit, you runt," Paul growled, stalking forward several steps. Bella looked him over, not surprised to see the wolf in him showing. He'd shifted a little more than Seth that she could see by the 'fur' sprouting on his chest and the jagged canines that had overtaken his mouth of once perfectly straight, white, _blunt_ teeth.

"Fuck you, man." Seth was raging now. "I wanted her back because I wanted to earn her forgiveness…because I wanted her to be happy again with us. You all just wanted her back because she made _you_ feel better. You all are mother-fuckin' assholes! She deserves better than anything we've given her!"

"Why you…" Jared began to move forward, his eyes flashing.

She'd had enough.

"Enough!" Bella trumpeted. The syllables reverberated in the room as well as any sound would off the walls in a cavern. It was like they'd all hit a wall when they heard it. The men became as mobile as Greek statues and the only sound remaining was that of her harsh breathing. She wrenched her hand from Seth's, studiously ignoring his whimper of pain as she did so.

"I don't think any of you have a clue why I left." She looked each of them in the eye, her jaw set in a hard line. Lily reclaimed her spot in her lap as Bella firmed herself. This confrontation was a long time in coming. It needed to be had for them to have any hope of moving past what had happened. She'd never forget it and she knew she would never forgive it, but they were tied together. They had the rest of their lives together. She'd make them understand, make them see what they had done to her and keep them, she prayed, from doing it again.

_Or anything else_, she swore to herself.

"You took advantage of me." She began with steel lacing her tone. Her hands were gentle as they petted Lily's fur, but she felt the strain everywhere else in her body. Tears threatened, but she forced them back. She'd let them out later when it wasn't so vital to _everything_ to keep her 'calm'.

"I know you were upset. That's not the problem. The problem was that you took your anger out on me. You knew I wanted to say something…that I wanted to explain. You refused to listen. You just snapped and snarled at me, made me a fool, and terrified me. Do you know that I can't even look at you anymore without wondering if I do something you don't like you'll haul me over your laps and beat on me? You _humiliated_ me." The last bit of that was hissed out between clenched teeth.

Seth made a move towards her, regret clear in his eyes. She could see it in the way he looked at her that he, at least, understood what had been done wrong. The others were sorrowful to see her in so much emotional pain, yes, and most likely comprehended to a degree that they'd taken things out of hand, but they were still thinking about themselves. In a relationship you thought about your other half first…always. She shouldn't have to play second-fiddle to their Alpha-superiority complex. She should have been on the winning side of their internal battle that day.

But their anger had won.

It wasn't something she'd permit them to let beat her again.

She sent Seth a hard look which stopped him dead in his tracks, his hands still stretched out towards her helplessly. He looked like she had that day…broken.

"I don't trust any of you anymore." She whispered sorrowfully. Clenching her jaw, she forced strength she didn't really feel back into her voice. "I have no choice but to accept you all in my life physically, but I'll be damned if I let any of you have my heart again. I can't trust you with it. I can't trust you not to hurt and break me again. My heart is all I have and you've made it abundantly clear that you can't protect it.

"So, from now on, I'm enforcing that rule you gave me when I first came here. This is _my_ room. I don't want any of you in it. None. For better or worse, I am bound to you all, but know right now that if I had the choice I'd have walked away. I'd have turned away from all of you for what you did."

"But," Jake began only to have her cut him off.

"No!" She shouted hoarsely. "No more. If I want to speak I will speak and not a single one of you has a right to tell me no. Do you know why I let all of you have the control you did? Why I let Paul feed me on his lap? Why I let you all put me down for naps? Why I never turned a single one of you down in public despite all the shit I was going to get for being the town slut?! It's because I loved and trusted you all implicitly.

"Well, you've shown me that you were capable of only pretty promises of forever and happiness. You disillusioned me. No more. Ask for my forgiveness if you want, but you'll not get it. You're going to have to prove to me that you're not the _beasts_ I think you are now. Harsh or not, it's the truth. Words only go so far and we're beyond petty vows."

Wringing her hands through Lily's fur just hard enough to elicit a meow from her, an apology dropping from her lips automatically, Bella leaned back into the pillows which had been erected behind her by Jake when he'd first propped her up. A deep sigh dribbled past her lips.

"I want you all to leave. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Bella, please, let us…" Embry began only for her to glare at him.

"Let you explain?" She arched a brow. "Like you let me explain?" They all flinched as she pelted resentment at them through their bond. She let her unhampered pain, disgust, and gut-clenching sadness bombard them all. It was making their bodies shake, though from anger or grief she didn't know. She was blocking them from sending anything back to her at the moment.

"Evy told me my dad is staying with Harry and Sue, which is probably best. He doesn't need to see this between us. I could tell him; you know that, right? I could tell him about how your raised your hands to me. I could make it so that our lives are even more strenuous than they are now. I could have told my mother.

"But I didn't."

"Why?" Seth asked softly, dropping to his knees beside the side of the enormous bed she was perched on. His hand hesitated for a moment before he set it down begrudgingly on her pet's back. Lily eyed him haughtily, but huffed and returned to nestling on her lap. "Why didn't you tell them, Bella?"

"Because," she began cautiously, "I still love you all and believe that you can make this better. If I told them there would never be a chance of them forgiving you. They would never accept any of you again. I don't want that. Make no mistake, though, that that will change if you even think of hurting me like this again. If you hurt me again…I'm done. I'll be a prisoner to Fate, but I'll be damned if I'm a prisoner to you."

She looked away from their torn faces. She didn't need so see their distress written over their now-human faces. Her own emotions in those regards eclipsed theirs.

"Until you can prove to me you understand what you did, I want you all out of my room. I won't hide in here…you won't take away my life…and I won't run away, but I need to be alone. Please respect that."

Seth's head dropped down to her side, his demeanor defeated. She was so tempted to place her hand on his scalp, to knead out the tension she knew to be in him, identical to the tension in her. She couldn't, though. Not now…not when so many things were wrong between them.

"Bella, we didn't mean to…"

"That's right," she whispered suddenly. Her eyes snapped to them, glaring ferociously. "Evy told me…you all were so busy pissing on each other that you forgot about Collin and Brady. You left it to them…_them_! They're still new to this!"

Raging, Bella tore her body away from them to the other side of the bed. Lily hissed and jettisoned herself onto the nightstand where she eyed all of them balefully.

"You knew I was coming back and you still wallowed in your own self-pity! You put the entire Tribe at risk by fighting each other. Did you even think?! My God! Didn't you beat me for the same damn reason…for putting myself at risk with Victoria? And you leave it to the Pups and the Trio to do the patrolling? Innocent people could have been killed!"

"Bella," Jake cried worriedly, his eyes frantic. He looked more than half-ready to pounce at the chance to console her in a way that would have been wholly welcome not so long ago. Bella practically snarled at him.

"Get out!" She screamed for all she was worth. All the pain she'd felt over the past week, all the energy that had swelled up inside of her during her separation from them which she'd thought she'd passed back into their keeping, swirled in her mind and gut like a whirlwind. It propelled her to the side where she snatched the lamp mere inches from where her kitten perched.

"Get out!" she repeated, hurling the lamp at the wall beside the largest grouping of her mates.

Solemn and unspeaking, they all glanced down at her for an indefinite amount of time before walking out of her sanctum. Their sorrow and guilt bombarded her nearly as viciously through the bond as her own anger did.

Seth was the last to leave, silent tears trailing down his cheeks. She stared resolutely back at him, her hands shaking where she'd fisted them into the blankets beneath her. Nodding to her once, his bearing nothing more than bedraggled-despair, he left her alone.

The sound of the door shutting behind him was louder than anything she'd ever heard in her life and feared she would ever hear again. Like a gunshot…and its bullet travelling straight into her heart.

Lily padded on silent feet back to her lap, her tiny head brushing up under her breast. Unclenching one fist, Bella stroked the tiger-cat's fur with as much gentility as she could muster. She glanced unseeingly on the shattered lamp, knew in the back of her mind that she would have to clean it up eventually, before curling up onto her side with the kitten in the weak shelter of her arms.

She cried as silently as she could, praying beyond all hope that this would be the last night she cried herself to sleep.

…In the other room her men stared at her door with fathomless eyes, desperate to win back their mate and be the men she deserved.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer<strong>**:** I do NOT own Twilight.

**Notes****:** Hey y'all. Thanks for reading. Sorry the chapters are taking so long to come out. Real life is a little beyond hectic. On the upside I've been doing a lot more drawings (commissions) and have been making a nice nest-egg for myself. I really do hope that this story has continued to keep your interest. As always, reviews are welcome, just remember to be 'polite' with each other.

Also, I want my readers to know right now that I intend to give my full view on abuse when 'The Pack Imperative' is finished. In no way, shape, or form do I agree in physical or emotional abuse. In stories we can make everything okay...we can make the 'bad dreams' go away. In real life it's not so easy. In real life people don't change so easily if ever. So, Happily-Ever-After or not in this story, I want all my readers to know that abuse is NEVER okay.


	28. Chapter 27: One Right Step

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: One Right Step**

The air was bitter cold this morning.

Bella stared as the air clouded with her every breath. Her gaze was turned outward, staring far off over the Sea Cliffs and the ocean beyond. The half stone, half wooden fence pressing into her lower stomach was the only physical obstacle keeping her from dropping over the side of the cliff into the water below. The waves, crashing as hard as they were into the jagged rocks, would annihilate her. Her skin was tissue paper in comparison.

Sighing morosely, Bella jerked her gaze away from the pounding surf to the horizon once more. It wasn't good to be thinking so morbidly. One might think she was suicidal.

She snorted to herself. _Not likely_.

Shrinking a little more into the white fur coat Paul had given to her not so long ago she relished in its warmth. She had the option, of course, of going inside where numerous fires were lit in the welcoming hearths. A movie was calling her name in the living room where she could cuddle up on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her and a cup of hot chocolate steaming on the table before her. Better yet there was an as-of-yet untouched tub of Half Baked Ben and Jerry's ice-cream in the freezer.

She just couldn't make herself go back into the cabin knowing that they were almost all in there, waiting for her.

Avoiding seven men wasn't easy. Not by a longshot. The Cabin was large without a doubt, but they sensed her everywhere. They knew exactly where she was every minute of the day. They wanted forgiveness and she didn't feel up to giving it. So she hid like the coward she was. She retreated to her bedroom as often as physically possible, knowing well that they would respect their earlier promises to keep out of her sanctuary. They wouldn't tear across that line and obliterate that remaining line of trust she held in them.

Grumbling under her breath, Bella berated herself for her cowardice.

_And dammit if they weren't the only ones in the wrong_.

There was the crux of the whole issue.

Isabella Swan, activist for the righteous indignities befallen womankind by man, had known for some time now that it wasn't _all_ her men's fault. The bulk of the blame deserved to fall on their shoulders, yes, but they weren't entirely all to blame. While they refused to listen to her when it was so vital to do so and allowed their anger to overrule them in a time that called for calm deliberation, she was also at fault for not being fully upfront with them. Even thinking that Victoria was a mirage, a conjuration of her dying mind, she should have said _something_. If it had been unfounded they could have all laughed about their worrying for nothing. As it was, though, she'd allowed her own childish fears of distressing others unnecessarily and needing to solve her own problems to get in the way of what was best for the whole.

It wasn't a mistake she ever planned to make again.

Admitting to them that she was sorry, too, was harder than she ever could have imagined it to be. The simple fact of it was that she felt hindered by her need to know that they were fully aware of what _they_ had done. She wanted assurances that they would make amends and promises that she could believe in that something like that would never happen again before she conceded and apologized for her own transgressions.

_Fucking coward_, the inner her scathed to her outer being. She ruthlessly thrust the honest part of herself behind a door and cranked up the music so she didn't have to hear her scolding.

Bella stepped back only once before leaning forward so that her arms were set heavily against the rail. The wind whipped up the cliff-face to caress her face, the only visible part of herself outside of the coat and its hood. Salt water. The smell sickened some people, but she'd grown so used to it. It was a comfort to her. It reminded her of home and a place she could feel safe.

She'd been back almost a week now. Thanksgiving had passed mutely between them all. It hadn't really been a family affair as she had thought months ago it would be. She'd initially planned to hijack one of the guys, or a few of them, and use them as her assistant chefs to get a magnificent Thanksgiving Meal ready for them and the rest of their families. She'd wanted to invite all their parents and siblings to the cabin as well as her own father and they'd have the first of hopefully many Holidays together. She had had aspirations of finding a true family with each of theirs. She'd been so anxious to be a part of a family.

That had been before the fire.

Groaning, Bella set her forehead to the backs of her arms and berated herself.

_I never thought things would get this complicated._

The sound of a twig splintering nearby triggered her to jackknife back into a standing position. Ineffective as it was, her hands balled up into fists before she tucked them up into her chest in a defensive position. Her eyes scanned for the immediate danger of whomever or whatever snapped the twig only to land on the imposing, yet unthreatening form of a sand-colored wolf.

"Oh," she sighed out gustily. Intelligent yellow eyes stared intently back at her as her body unwound from its battle-ready stance. "Sorry."

Seth lumbered towards her, his tail swaying back and forth with each step he took. His head bobbed in the same sedate fashion though his gaze remained fixated on her. He was smaller than his Alpha Brothers, but not by much. If she didn't know them so intimately she would have never have been able to tell that he was the smallest of the bunch of seven.

"What are you –" she began only to have Seth circle around her so that he could press his snout to her back. He ushered her forward slowly with his big head so that she was more than a dozen feet away from the wall. Despite her earlier cowardice Bella chuckled at the instinctively protective action he took with her. "I wasn't going to fall over, y'know."

The wolf bumped a cold nose into her cheek chidingly before setting on his rump before her. His head was even with her own at this angle. Her fingers itched to rub themselves through his thick fur, delve beneath the rough to its silky base. She longed to pet him and hug him like she used to.

Seth whimpered into the cold air, his hot breath clouding a far larger space than hers ever could.

_Can he feel my longing?_

Bella remained passively still as Seth pushed his nose forward, an inch at a time, and finally nudged her chest exactly where her heart would be. His paws shuffled until he was all but pressed up over her. Looking at her a final time, his gaze pleading with her not to move away, he settled his head over her shoulders and hugged her body close to his with an over-large paw.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She sank into his fur and felt his immense heat radiating through them both. The closeness she'd denied them all had caused a major ache in the region of her heart though the all-encompassing pain of when she was gone from them was absent. Feeling him holding her, alighting in the shelter and safety of his embrace, Bella felt the ache diminishing.

Shaking, she reached her arms up and around his thick neck.

_Oh God_, she cried inwardly. Choking on a sob, Bella shuddered and began to weep into Seth's wolfen body.

Inside the house, six other males looked on helplessly as the woman they loved more than anything finally broke down and released the sorrow and pain they knew full well she'd been holding back for weeks. Any of them, of course, wished that she could have leaned on them, but Seth was the only one close enough to her now for her to let go. Jealousy took a back seat every time to Isabella's wellbeing.

Oblivious, or rather uncaring of the attention she instinctively knew she held of the others, Bella cried her heart out into Seth's overwarm fur. Her nose nuzzled into the silky undercoat as tears trickled down her cheeks as swiftly as water over the edge of a waterfall.

"W-why?!" She wrenched the word from her throat with all the force of a force-three hurricane. Her fists, inconsequential in comparison to the male's brute strength, beat against his barreled chest with no real thought. The sound was like a drum being struck, thunder rolling in the skies.

Seth's paw shifted, tugging her downward. Bella allowed herself to be dragged to the ground where she ended up draped over his other paw, stomach facing upwards. The fur covering his chest crested and made a kind of impromptu covering for her as he leaned his head over her rattling frame. His muzzle nudged her cheek in comfort even as the paw she was not laying on settled itself over her curled-up legs. She was entirely surrounded by him.

"Why didn't you stand up for me?" She hiccupped, wallowing in his presence. Her fingers uncurled from their previous form of battering fists so that she could tug him by the chest more firmly into her. Her nails just about scraped the skin hidden beneath all the fur. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

Her mind replayed that horrible night over and over again, making her relive the single-most horrid memory of her life. She could still feel the shadow of the smacks Jacob delivered to her ass. She could still recall the other two holding her down for him. She felt sick with misery.

"I needed you to just listen to me. Why wouldn't you listen?" Aware that he was unable to respond in any verbal way that she could comprehend, Bella continued on. It was more of a rhetorical question anyway. "Do you know what it's like? To lose your home? It all burned. All that's left of my home is a big pile of ash and concrete. All of our things were in there. My grandmother's and grandfather's things. All of our family photos. Everything."

Shaking her head in the plushy confines of his fur-covered chest, Bella sniffled. "I was so scared. He was in there, Seth. My father was in there when the house was burning. He could have died and it would have been my fucking fault! He could be dead right now!

"Why couldn't she have stayed away? Why did she come back? I didn't kill James!" Unthinkingly she wrenched her hands in his fur in her momentary burst of anger. The male didn't even flinch. "He's the one that bit me. He wanted to make me one of them, wanted to make me and Edward suffer. The others…they did what they had to. James wasn't sane. He was psychotic! They had to do it! Why can't she just let it go and leave me be?!"

She didn't need a verbal answer to that question either. She already knew it.

"She loved him…" She let the comment slide off. Her heart and head ached too much. Love made people do stupid, utterly foolish things. "It was me or him. Please believe me, it was me or him! I didn't want anybody to die. Victoria…she can't let it rest. She won't let this go until one of us is dead."

Seth growled softly against her ear, his nose twitching against her neck. She comforted herself in the knowledge that he and the others, no matter what went on between them, would never let harm come to her. They wouldn't let the vampire's mate have her misguided revenge.

The only sound between them for a time was her hiccupping sobs and his soft, rumbling purr. She felt her eyes burn, a classic side effect of crying. Her head hurt as well, but she was unable to stop the onslaught now that it'd come. She'd cried so many times in the past weeks. She'd wallowed in her own pity and misery, but this was different. This was her man. This was someone she loved and cherished despite the things that had passed unpleasantly between them.

She'd needed this so badly.

"I'm sorry," she coughed, hiding her shame within his sandy fur. "I should have said something. I should have said anything! If I had –" she swallowed down her apprehension. She wouldn't let her cowardice get in the way again. "If I had maybe my father wouldn't have come so close to dying. Maybe there wouldn't be this distance between us. Maybe I wouldn't have made the biggest mistake of my life."

Crying anew, Bella whispered fervently and repetitively into Seth's pelt. "I'm sorry." It was a mantra. It was her plea for forgiveness, in his eyes and hers as well. She clung to the two words like a prayer to God. They were all she had now. Those two words held her only hope for a brighter future than what she had now.

They stayed like that for a long while. Bella weeping in the hold of one of her mates, Seth hovering over her in an effort to comfort and warm her. By the time the tears had stopped falling and the tracks staining her cheeks were no more than dried trails of salt. Bella relished in having him so close to her, feeling her whole self relaxing into the sense of home he gave her. Her eyelids drooped until she could no longer open them.

She was only partially aware of Seth shifting around her. His paws shrunk even as his claws extended and thinned out into human fingers. His pelt retracted into him until only human skin connected with the coat swaddling her. Smoothly, as though he'd been holding her thus the entire time, Seth hoisted her up into his arms so that she was held off of the ground. Her head lulled to the side on his bicep, the muscle underneath not in the least bit uncomfortable to her.

"Let's get you to bed, baby." His head bent forward so that his nose could bump her hairline under the hood. "I think you're due a good sleep, hm?" She simply snuggled further into his arms in response.

The rocking sway of his steps, not jarring in the least, tempted her to give in to the sleep he offered her. She was so unbearably tired. Any amount of sleep she could get out of this moment would be more than welcome. The dark circles under her eyes were unattractive accessories at this point.

Deliciously hot air from inside washed over them both as the back door was opened, no doubt by another of her mates, and Seth carried them over the threshold. A hand belonging to someone other than the man currently holding her tipped her hood back off of her scalp, clearly ignoring the growl sent their way.

"Ease off, Seth." Quil's voice caressed her ears in a baritone snarl. "I'm not gonna hurt her. Not again."

"Back. Off." Even through the thickness of her fir coat Bella could feel Seth's muscles trembling. He wanted to Change. He wanted to switch his skin into one of his more bestial forms, most likely with the intention of doing his brothers harm. He'd only just barely gotten her back, broken down the wall standing between them. There was no doubt in her mind that if anyone attempted to get between them again, brothers or not, he'd move to injure them severely.

"Shh," she hushed him, rubbing her nose into his naked chest. He smelled so good! "M'kay." She mumbled, too tired to put up much of a fuss on who did or did not make a move to touch her so chastely.

"Take her to her room, please, Seth," Jacob sighed, hurt evident in his tone. The sound of it sent a stabbing ache into her heart. She was the cause of his misery, her rejection of him, but he hadn't redeemed himself to her. Not yet. He needed to show her that he could be the man again that she had fallen in love with.

Not the man she had the misfortune of seeing.

Not speaking to the others again, Seth carried her limp body into the bedroom she both loathed and loved. It was so wonderful, so perfect for her, but it had become like a prison these past days. When would she feel at home here again?

Bella sighed as her sandy wolf set her on her rump on the cushioned top of her bed. The blankets were already turned down, another action credited to her thoughtful mates, and the pillow arranged for her nap. Leaning against the headboard, her hands clumsily working to remove her coat, she allowed Seth to work her boots off of her feet. They were wet from the frost that had settled on the grass earlier in the morning and lingered until she'd made her way outside for her moment of solitude.

"I'm sorry, too, Bella." The softly spoken words jerked her out of her tired stupor enough to open her eyes. She eyed Seth's kneeled form groggily as he completely discarded her of her boots and socks. His hands worked proficiently at tugging the haphazardly worn jeans off of her body as soon as he'd finished, seemingly unaffected by her rapidly appearing naked form.

"Seth," she whispered, only to cut herself off as he stood. Having shucked off her jeans, the male made quick work of finishing off the removal of her coat and the oversized sleep-shirt she'd been wearing for the past two nights. Her hands darted upwards to snap over her naked chest. She wore panties to bed, but saw no sense in walking around her own home, whether it was actually _hers_ or not, with an uncomfortable bra hugging her chest in.

A smirk ticked his lips, but he didn't say anything to the effect of her shy reaction.

"If I hadn't let my anger get the better of me, if I hadn't let the others' anger fuel mine, we might not be having this discussion. Everyone was at fault, as you said, though we do hold most of the blame." Snaking his fingers across her mating mark once, Seth disappeared from view only long enough to retrieve a change of clothes for her from the closet. He was chuckling as he set the clothes down at her side. "I think Evy enjoyed herself a little too much spending our money."

That was true enough. After the fire during her trip to see her mother the guys had given Evy one of the major credit cards under the Prime's name for pack use. They had given her explicit instructions to get everything and anything clothing-wise that Bella might need. The red-head had been a tad overzealous, apparently, as the massive walk-in closet was now filled to the brim with everything from evening wear to baggy sweats.

"_You think they'll let me borrow that card for myself?_" Evy'd asked her the following day from when she'd returned home and found the veritable smorgasbord awaiting her. "_They didn't even give me a top-out! I think I could actually buy my own jet with that card!_" The idea, of course, had been nixed by a harried Caleb as he attempted to draw his mate away from the simmering Alpha male that was Sam.

Bella had later learned that the guys had reimbursed the Pack's money with their own and hadn't taken kindly to the fact that Evy had managed to sneak in a pair of Louis Vuitton's from Seattle for herself.

The two girls had simply snickered, though Bella did feel a smidgen sorry that her friend had tricked the men like that.

"Hey," Seth ticked her head up with a single finger, his gaze tender as it rested on her tired face. "It's okay. Really. She's a good friend to you and we were willing to give her those shoes for all she's done and been for you."

The brunette's brows furrowed. "Are you able to read my mind?" Seth laughed a little, reaching for the 'nightgown' Evy had found. It was a black-and-white, long-sleeve 'dress' with a giant teddy-bear on the front of it. It was completely adorable, but not so childish that she would have been embarrassed to have been seen wearing it.

"Lift your arms, Baby." Without thinking she complied, allowing Seth to dress her like a child, not even flinching when he had to have seen her breasts in the moments it took to uncover them and recover them with the top. Gently tugging the sleeve down to her knuckles Seth explained, "I can't read your mind, Bella, but your face is an open book. We _like_ Evy, Baby. She can be a pain in the ass and we're starting to think that she's got two personalities, but she's a good person. She'd good to you."

Staying quiet as Seth tipped her back so that she was actually lying on the bed, she allowed herself to reach again for the sleep that had been beckoning earlier. While she was distracted the man before her slipped a pair of black baggy shorts up her legs and under the shirt for an added bit of modesty, though the hem hung down to her knees. To top it off he added a pair of thick, micro-fiber black socks to keep her feet warm.

"All right, in you go." Bella let him maneuver her under the covers. An invisible fist clenched around her heart at the familiarity of the gesture. She felt so cared for…_loved_…when he did this. It was something she hadn't believed she could ever want in her life, being coddled, but now craved with every fiber of her being.

"Seth?" She asked tentatively as he tucked the sheets and comforter down tight around her. His eyes remained fixated on hers as if he didn't dare to lose the connection so precariously formed between them.

Lifting both hands to his cheeks, she stroked her thumbs over his brows. A deep purr reverberated through his chest and earned him a wide smile from her. Tugging him forward just enough, knowing all the while that he only moved because he'd permitted her to move him, she pressed her lips softly against his parted ones. It was a little more than a peck, but less than a savory smack, but it still set chills to both of their skins. Staring into the depths of his dark eyes, Bella let her true feelings fall from her tingling lips.

"I still love you, Seth. I always will."

Shuddering from sudden cold when he pulled away from her, Bella calmly set herself back into the plush pillows. The man's eyes were all but shimmering, gold flashing under the abyss-like surface. Infinitely gentle, as if he were afraid he'd shatter them, Seth took her hands, kissed the palm of each, and then tucked them securely under the blankets with the rest of her. His fingers fondled through her hair only a few times before he entirely withdrew from her, his gaze smoldering.

"Sleep tight, Bella. I'll be here when you wake up." Bending down at the waist, the man placed a lingering kiss to her brow. She felt his hand shake as he set it against her cheek. "I love you, too, Baby. So damn much."

Bella kept eye contact as long as she could. She watched him pull up a wingback chair to the side of the bed where he'd corralled her in with pillows, a little sorrowful that he didn't join her for a cuddle but understanding that the space was needed at this point. Her eyes drooped quickly, however, and within a matter of minutes she was asleep to the world.

For the first time in so long she truly slept.

_Peace_.

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon, Sunshine!" A sickeningly loud voice cheered as the bed beneath her shook. Bella groaned as pillows tumbled and rolled off of her little piece of heaven, the covers being forcefully tugged off of her person. Two feet repeatedly thundered on either side of her hips as the person assaulting her person hopped about like the Energizer Bunny on crack.<p>

"My God, Evy! Are you high?!" Another voice, familiar and feminine, called from nearby. A low-thrumming growl echoed through the entire room from an equal distance.

"Let her sleep, you evil little hellion!" Seth howled, evidently reaching to snatch Evy up only to miss as the girl squealed and dodged to the other side of the bed.

"But Seth," Evangeline cried in a purposely obnoxious voice – the girl still held a grudge for what the guys had done to her friend. "We've been planning this for, like, ever!"

"Why are we even friends?" Larissa murmured almost under her breath.

"Let go of my pillow or die," Bella warned in a monotone voice. She peeked open an eye to see Evy staring back at her warily, obviously more afraid of her brunette friend than the wolf in man's clothing across the bed from her. She released her over-pale hand from the pillow she'd been about to fling out from under the Alpha Female's head.

Yawning, Bella looked towards the wall clock. She wasn't surprised to find that it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. It'd been barely ten in the morning when Seth had settled her down for her 'nap'. She still had so much sleep to catch up on. She was exhausted.

"I 'spose I'd better get up," she grumbled more to herself than anyone else. She would have happily slept the rest of the day away, but she, Evy, and Larissa had a prior engagement that they really couldn't renege on.

"You're still tired, Bella. Why don't I get the Trio and the Pups to come take these two away and you can eat a little something then go back to sleep?" Seth offered kindly, shooting a chastising look at the two other females in the room. Neither woman paid him an ounce of attention.

"No, Seth. Me and the girls have something important to do." Yawning wide once more, Bella raised her body up and stretched. Her back cracked several times satisfyingly. No sooner did her hands begin to drop did Evy snatch them up and begin to pull.

"Come on. One of your men is whipping up some bar-b-que chicken wraps that we can steal and take into the study. We can't be late!" One tug, two, and Bella finally managed to get her feet under her enough so as not to smack face-first into the floor when the red-head managed to catapult her from the confines of the bed.

"What are you three doing?" Seth demanded, stomping after them. Glancing back over her shoulder she was happy to see that he'd at least donned a pair of cut-offs. Even knowing Larissa and Evy had their own men she wouldn't have been able to keep the jealous she-witch inside of her from making a debut if he'd been running around in his birthday suit.

_Don't mind having that particularly suit strutted in front of me for a private showing, though_. Bella slammed the door shut in the face of her inner slut, determined to keep her in check until such thoughts could be acted upon without remorse. The thing cried piteously in her mind at being denied.

Again.

Stumbling through the living room, Bella caught a blessed whiff of good food. All her mother ever did when she was 'visiting' was order-out. Neither she nor Phil could cook and she herself had been in no condition to do anything but wallow in her own misery. She'd never take for granted her abilities in the kitchen again.

A soft mew heralded their arrival into the main area. Bella beamed at her kitten, who was currently basking in the heat from the lit fireplace and glancing serenely at her. The men, all arranged throughout the rooms haphazardly, gazed at the three of them with intensity. Sam, Jared, and Daire were gone, presumably on Patrol.

"Evening, Darlin'." Embry greeted from the range. He flipped an oversized wrap as easily as she'd flip a feather. "You want something to eat? I'm making wraps, but if you want something else just say so."

"No, a wrap is fine." Walking sluggishly, Bella made her way to the counter where some finished wraps were already sitting. Paul, walking up behind her and beyond in order to get a drink from the fridge, gestured towards the plate of smaller wraps.

"Those are for you girls. Embry made sure to keep the peppers out of those ones. They're also a little more manageable for your sizes." Turning from the fridge, Paul set an assortment of bottles onto the counter behind the wraps designated for the females. "Pick any drink you want. There's plenty more if you want any."

"Thank you," Bella hushed, echoed a little more loudly by her friends.

"We're going to be busy for a while, okay?" Evy informed them more than she asked. After gathering her desired wrap and drink she all but skipped over to her men to peck their cheeks in warm affection. Larissa, surprisingly enough, gave a light hug and kiss to Brady and Collin before following Evy into the study.

Bella gaped at the beaming duo as they stared longingly after their dark-skinned mate. "What and when did I miss that?!" She cried indignantly. Several chuckled answered her outrage.

"Get your dinner and go ask Larissa." Jake chided her, chasing her from the room with a light smack to her ass. She flinched at first, an instinctive reaction since that night, but brushed it off. She didn't even scold him for taking liberties. Slow as the progress was, she was opening back up to them.

They'd all owe Seth a world of thanks before everything was said and done.

Shaking her head, Bella trotted for the study, still wearing her pajamas and focusing her attention – for the moment – on finding out exactly what she'd missed between Issa and the Pups.

_I really needed to pull my head out of my ass and get back in the game!_

* * *

><p>Bella's fingers clenched and unclenched periodically in her lap as she sat before the computer screen roughly half an hour later. Her eyes darted back and forth between the the calling-bar flashing before her, her two friends who were standing to either side of her, and the now empty plates and glasses they'd left lying about the room.<p>

"Her name's Brigitte. Don't worry so much!" Evy lightly scolded her. "She's so nice. You'll absolutely love her."

"I'm going to humiliate myself," Bella hissed under her breath, unsure to the extreme now about talking to the other woman they'd been planning to call for the past week. She should have seriously put thought into changing into something more appropriate for a first meeting at the very least.

"No you won't!" Her red-haired friend shook her shoulders a little harshly. "Stop being such a worry-wart!"

"What if I'm waking her up?! She could be pissed off with me for getting her up out bed!"

"Chéri , do I look so old to you that I could not survive a little talk with my fellow Shifters'-mates?"

Bella jerked in her seat, only just realizing that the call had gone through and had been accepted. With wide eyes she gawked unattractively at the screen. A smiling face lined with delicate wrinkles stared back at her.

"Oh wow," she found herself whispering out loud. The other women, Evy and Brigitte alike, chuckled at her. Issa at least seemed to be in a state of shock as well, so she didn't feel nearly so bad for staring.

"I hope that means that I meet with your approval. Yes?" Bella nodded mutely, still taking the woman in with her sweetly seductive voice laced heavily with a French accent. "Bonjour, Chéri . It is good to finally meet you."

Brigitte Lefebvre was a near carbon-copy of Helen Mirren as far as Bella could tell. Her hair was nearly all white and long, hanging down over her shoulders and back out of the camera's view. Her eyebrows were plucked to perfection over top of eyes so green they looked like emeralds. She had crow's feet and laugh-lines aplenty, but it only added to her elegant charm. The way she smiled lit up her entire face and made all of the building tensions in her own body go away. This woman had a confident, but motherly air about her that soothed and drew others in.

"I-it's nice to meet you too, ma'am." She stuttered embarrassingly. Her cheeks flamed red as Brigitte half-giggled at her.

"No ma'am, Chéri . I am Brigitte to all of my friends and I do hope that we will be friends, too. Would you prefer to be called Isabella or Bella, Chéri ?"

"Bella, please."

"And you, Chéri?" The woman's eye crinkled as she looked to Larissa. "Oh my, you have such a beautiful complexion!"

"Thank you." Even through Issa's darker skin you could see her blush. She shyly ran her fingers over her scalp before remaking eye contact. "Call me Issa, please."

Evy leaned down then so that she could look into the screen over Bella's shoulder and waved cheerily with her fingers. "Hello Brigitte. Your English has gotten even better since I left Quebec! How are you this evening?"

"I am well Evy. My, but you are a cheery little thing this day! Then again you always were. Are you still running those boys around in circles?" Brigitte adjusted the silken gold robe tighter around her shoulders as she shivered. "Forgive me. It is cold these days and growing colder. By February I am ready to abandon my home and board the first flight to Africa for some relief!"

"Foolish woman would do better to listen to her men and dress warmly," a deeply rich voice boomed from Brigitte's side of the connection. The elder woman smiled so widely to the man, she presumed, off screen beside her that Bella thought her cheeks might split in half. There was eternal love in her gaze and it tore at her heart to see it so openly displayed.

"Oh, Raoul, you are such a barbarian. When have I ever listened to you in the last century?" Her tone was light and full of whimsy. In that moment she did not look as old as she appeared or proclaimed herself to be.

_A century?_ Bella wondered to herself.

"You have never listened to me, my little minx." Massive hands, ones aged but by no means old, slipped behind Brigitte to drape a thick looking shawl over the woman's shoulders. His face dropped down into view momentarily, a man with similar features to Jon Voight, to kiss Brigitte's cheek. "I do not love you any less, though. Return to us when you are done, ma petite Chéri ."

Brigitte sighed and stared longingly after the man that left her side. "He is so worrisome."

"He loves you," Evy, Issa, Bella said at the same time. The elder woman looked to them with surprise before laughing heartily.

"Yes, children, he does." A sly look slipped over the woman's wrinkled face. She glanced at each of them in turn, her eyes twinkling. "Your men love you three as well, do they not?"

"Issa's men more recent then ours," Evy inserted devilishly, winking at their darker-skinned friend. Larissa gasped once in indignant fury before flushing a more deadly shade. When Evy turned her attention back to the screen, Larissa unleashed her pent-up embarrassment and whacked the poor ginger upside her head. "Ow! Hey!"

Bella coved her mouth with one hand, snickering, but trying her best to control it. She wasn't leaving a good impression on the elder by not only allowing the two girls to taunt each other, but also laughing over it.

Thankfully Brigitte, too, found humor in it.

"You be careful, Chéri. The Sickness will come soon if it has not already." Her nose crinkled even more with distaste, obviously remembering something. "I do not think I would have accepted my men so easily in my life had I known that I was to expect the Sickness so soon afterwards."

Larissa waved the woman off with a calm twist of her wrist. "I went through it already. Bella and Evy gave me a crash-course on what to expect in being a mate. Then when I got irritated with that they elaborated and soothed my feathers a bit."

"It is always a great thing to have others wiser in such things there to aid you. I will admit that I am a little jealous. I was not so lucky in my youth. I had only my men to guide me through the harsher times."

"Well, that's kind of one of the reasons we wanted to talk to you, Brigitte." Bella bit her lip a little when the other woman gave her a curious stare, her attention obviously caught. "Before Evy I was just alone in this. I really didn't know what was going on beyond what the guys told me an they only about as much as their genetics could tell them and what the Elders could guess upon. Things aren't generally left documented about this sort of stuff."

"For good reason." Brigitte's brows drew downward in a fierce frown. "It is far too easy for diaries and such to fall into the wrong hands. Whole families have been slaughtered in the past for being Supernaturals by those that do not understand. Documented memoires are not widely popular for us."

Bella shuddered at the thought of people dying, knowing full well how people could turn on their own. Beyond that was the knowledge that she and the others had the same chances of being hurt, though she and Evy had made a great step towards peace for them.

…_And with any luck, others will be safe as well_.

"Well, the thing is, me and Evy found some documents here at the Pack Home that we think can help to make a kind of Haven for other Shifters and we wanted to talk to you about it." Gesturing for the main sections of papers they had quartered off, Bella readily accepted them when Issa handed them over. "If I'm right I think we can do something good here."

Eyes blazing with inner strength, Bella flipped open the first file. Her fierce brown eyes connected with glittering emerald and held, both women smiling from ear to ear.

"Will you help us, Brigitte? Do you think we can do this?"

Brigitte shifted forward on her seat so that her elbows rested lightly upon the table before her. Her smile settling into what could only be described as a smirk, Bella felt the butterflies in her stomach settle a little.

"Bella, for this I would sacrifice an entire year's worth of sleep for. Now speak to me of your plans and I will aid you in what way I can."

For the first time in what felt like an eternity Bella was able to push aside her disquiet resultant from the distance between her and her men and focus on something greater than herself.

She was an Induja and it was about time that she started acting like it.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Notes<strong>**:** Hello everyone. I wanted to get this chapter out to y'all. I have my next surgery this upcoming week and had hoped to get this one out before the first, but it didn't work out as planned. I appreciate all of you who are sticking around, but I cannot blame you if you wish to drop the story. This chapter was a bit short for what I was initially ready to publish, but instead moved it into the next chapter as it fit better there.

Once again, thank you for reading and I hope you can enjoy. Please be well until next time.

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.


	29. Chapter 28: Making of a Home

**Disclaimer****:** I do NOT own Twilight.

**Notes****:** I'm back. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back into the groove of things, but I kind of lost my flare for writing for a while there. I tried and tried, attempted to fix what I'd managed to get down, and then discarded it completely. I know this chapter can't possibly make up for the horrendous wait you've all had to endure, but I hope those of you that have continued to stick by me won't be too disappointed.

Also, please be aware that I am changing my profile links up a little bit. Jacob Black N Pack, which I used to post the unedited version of this story on is no longer up and running. The unedited version is STILL posted onto Tricky Raven (.ning site) and The Writer's Coffee Shop.

To everyone out there I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Many Blessings to you all this Holiday Season!

**ALSO**, there is a picture of Evy's 'future' home on the Photobucket link (indicated by the asterisk) which is in my profile.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Eight: Making of a Home<strong>

"You could be arrested for that, you know."

The rumbling deep voice broke into her quiet with such force that she squealed, entirely breaking the false-sense of sneakiness she'd tried to portray only moments ago.

Evy's arms pin-wheeled as she lost her footing on the trellis anchored to the side of the house she'd been spying into. Caleb cursed a blue-streak as he caught her mid-fall. The other two hurried to his side, their hot and heavy hands hovering over her body as she fought against instinct to cuddle into the embrace.

Grabbing hold of her irritation at their frightening her with both hands, Evy shoved her palms against Caleb's chest. The man was built like a damned tank and she had no chance of moving him on her own, but it was the principle of it. It was with great reluctance, she could tell, that he allowed her back onto her own feet.

"You scared me half to death, you jerk!" She slapped at his lingering hands.

"You shouldn't have even been up on that damned trellis in the first place, you little rat." Daire pulled her away from the red wooden walls and nearly dead vines which had climbed their way up the trellis during the warmer months. His eyes were narrowed angrily on the white-washed windows. "Do you have any idea what it would have meant if you'd fallen and broken your neck?!"

Before she could answer that question, though she suspected it was rhetorical, Boone had whirled her around to face him. His brows were drawn heavily over his eyes, the lighter brown color flashing gold.

"Why did you just run off, Evangeline? You scared _us_ half to death!" His lips tightened. "Not to mention that you were incredibly rude to the realtor. If you didn't want to see the house she was going to show us you should have just told her so, not run off like an inconsiderate child."

"She's a man-stealer, anyway," she mumbled under her breath petulantly. The three lifted eyebrows she got in response to her hushed words were enough verification for her that her men weren't going deaf. She huffed out a breath before lifting her gaze back to the dirtied window she'd been peeking through only moments before. "We've walked by this place several times and I just wanted a better look."

Caleb sighed deeply, his fingers rubbing at his temples. Evy knew well that he couldn't stay angry with her for too long. As much as she pushed their buttons and tested their patience, she was the center of their worlds just as much as they shined like the Northern Star in her dark nights.

"Is it an Open House?" He asked finally, his exasperation waning.

Evy hummed with delight before hugging the 'Alpha' of their family with gusto. She rubbed her cold nose into his light leather jacket, which wasn't necessary at all physically to either of her men, but needed just the same due to the Normal society they hid within. His arms banded around her instantly, their heavy weight making her feel as safe and at home as she'd ever felt as a young girl in her parents' house.

"There's an old For Sale sign hidden in the branches of one of those bushes out front, but I didn't dare try to move any of the brush away in case I got stuck with something. Can we look? Please?"

"Come on, Pumpkin." Daire slid up behind her and settled his hand onto the small of her back. He led her out of Caleb's embrace and towards the front of the house.

"How far do you think this place is from the Cabin?" Boone asked from behind them. Sneaking a peak over her shoulder, Evy could see that he was looking back and forth between the empty home and the dirt driveway to the 'road' leading almost directly towards the Lunar Cabin Bella shared with her mates.

"Maybe a mile and a half. The two properties, I bet, share the same woods." Caleb too was looking in the direction of the Lunar Cabin. "I can hear the waves from the ocean. They probably even share the same cliff, though the Cabin's is a lot closer to their property than this one's."

"What drew you to this place, Evy?" Daire asked as they came around to the front of the house.

Evangeline took in the house she'd been eyeing for over three weeks*. It was a two-story home, cottage-like in appearance. The wooden, slatted walls were painted a dusted brick red color. The framing wood which outlined the windows and the porch were white. The door was nestled between two window-panes that stretched to the same height as the door-frame. If she squinted she could see a porch swing nestled snuggly in the corner of the porch behind the over-grown brush. On the second story there was a large window overlooking the front lawn – which on its own had the potential to be beautiful if they could just trim back the overgrowth.

"It's…quaint." Her head tilted as she took the place in more fully. Boone and Caleb were pulling at the branches she'd avoided so many times before to look at the For Sale sign. Despite the weathering showing in the paint and the evidence of Operation Lawn Take-Over, the home could very likely be an Open House. Empty or not, most of the homes within small towns like La Push weren't locked. People felt safer in their small communities where everyone knew each other.

_Minus the coven of vampires that used to live right down the road in Forks. That's kind-of, sort-of beyond dangerous. Then again, it's not like a flimsy locked door would ever hold a bloodsucker at bay. Too bad that myth about needing to invite vampires into your home isn't true. It would save everyone a lot of grief._

Her fingers fiddled with the hem of her parka. A familiar feeling began to gurgle in the pit of her stomach and pain made its momentary appearance in her heart.

"It – reminds me of my home. The one I had back before you guys came along." She felt more than heard all movement cease. Their emotions settled off into absolute calm. It was _still_. "I-I don't mean for you guys to think that I ever regret coming with you. Oh God! I could never regret that. I can't. You guys have made me happier than I've ever been in my life, but…" Her words choked off as a sob threatened to burst its way out of her chest.

From all around she felt heat, arms dropping down to hold her close between them all. Foreheads and lips nuzzled her hair, cheeks, and shoulders. A few stray tears trickled from her eyes as they whispered soothingly to her.

"S-sorry." She lifted shaking hands to wipe the tears off of her cheeks. Well, she wiped off the ones that Caleb hadn't kissed away.

"You don't need to be sorry for anything, Sweetie." Caleb kissed her one final time, his lips leaving warm tingles in their wake. Evy felt her heart stutter a bit in her chest, knew that she wanted more of whatever he was willing to give her to make her feel whole again. He and his 'brothers' had been able to make her feel like she didn't need her old family to be happy in her own life. They made her feel wanted and loved. Always.

"Not out in the open, little one." Boone whispered consolingly in her ear. His hands stroked gently over her hips. "When we get back home, hm? We'll have a nice dinner together and then we'll take you up to our room for some much needed _attention_." She could all but see the devious smirk dancing across his lips.

"Sounds nice," she hummed, leaning back into his supportive chest. Ever since she'd accepted them into her life, even as friends, four years ago she'd never found a better source of comfort. From the very beginning they meant something to her. They were her confidants and her greatest loves.

"Doesn't look like it's an Open House, Pumpkin." Daire called from nearby. His eyes assessed the house. "We can see if the doors are unlocked, but I wouldn't think so with how long this place looks to have been on the market. They wouldn't want kids running in and trashing the place. If worse comes to worse, we'll talk to the realtor so she can give us a tour."

Evy grumbled under her breath, all too aware that her men could hear her.

Their realtor, Jane Marston from Forks Realty, was nothing short of a totally kiss-ass. The woman also seemed to be in the mind of getting the attention of any one of her men all to herself and Evy just couldn't forgive her for that. They were _her_ men and no-one else's. The woman could flaunt and hint all she wanted to, but she would rip the elder woman's arms out of their sockets before she ever let her lay her manicured hands on Caleb, Daire, or Boone.

_Possessive much, dearie?_ The inner-her snickered.

_Damn straight I am!_ She snapped back, determined to keep that hussy away from the trio.

Together they moved up the several steps and onto the porch. While Boone tested the knob to the door, Evy worked her way over to the swing. She was cautious on the porch floor, unwilling to step on dry-rotted wood and fall down through to the ground beneath. Goodness knows her men would have kittens, or rather puppies, if she took a tumble like that.

Luckily enough, the wood seemed to be in as good a shape as it looked. All it needed was a good coat of paint like most of the rest of the house's exterior. The swing, too, was well worn, but when she set herself onto it gingerly it held strong. The u-screws in the arm-rests were original, she suspected, but the chains attaching them to the overhang were much newer. She couldn't even see rust in the links.

Caleb lightly pulled at all four chains while she sat, Daire watching all the while above them in case the chains came unhinged from the overhang. Evy knew that she'd be out of the swing quicker than she could blink if they thought for an instant that it was going to break.

"Seems sturdy enough." Caleb mumbled, his eyes taking in the face of the house. "Most of the homes we've seen out here have great craftsmanship. The homeowners took pride in what they built."

"They wanted homes that would stand the test of time, man." Boone stepped up behind his Alpha. He shook his head at Evangeline. "The door's locked. We'll call the realtor a little later to see if she can let us in for a look."

Evy nodded softly, gently working the swing into a gentle sway.

Her mind drifted, thinking back to the first day she'd met Bella at the 'school'. There had just been something about her that had drawn Evy closer. She felt almost as if she had a kinship with her. She'd felt almost the same way when she'd first met Brigitte with her men. She believed now that the human mates were connected to Indujas in some way. Like moths to a flame. Brigitte attracted other Shifters' mates to her and so it seemed did Bella. How else could they explain both she and Issa finding Bella with how big the world was?!

Bella was a genuinely good person and Evy couldn't stand how her men had treated her. She wanted to castrate them, actually. While she understood how scared they had been for her and how worried they were over the nomad vampire hell-bent on ending their mate's life, she could by no means forgive them for hurting her friend as they had. They should have let matters settle after the Swan house burnt down before addressing Bella on all that was going on and what she'd been hiding. Undoubtedly she'd still have found herself spanked, but it wouldn't have been in the midst of their anger and uncaring.

Bella was now desperately trying to build La Push into something so much bigger than it currently was…without the full trust and support she'd had before with her men, the Alphas and their Prime.

Talking with Brigitte, Bella, she, and Issa had come to the conclusion that there needed to be another safe haven for other Shifters and their Mates. The La Push Packs of the past had had the wherewithal to purchase nearly every establishment within the Reservation that wasn't state-owned such as the library as well as miles and miles surrounding the little town. Not a single entity could buy them out of it, either. In layman's terms, the Pack could throw the Reservation under if they so chose and it would be in the tribe's best interest to allow outsiders onto their territory.

Bella had been in debates with the Council for five days now, Jacob and Sam working beside her in the Town Hall, to make La Push into a Supernatural Hotspot, so to speak.

Evy and her men had made the decision to make the move to La Push, regardless of the Council's approval, simply because the place felt more like home than anywhere else they'd ever been. Part of it was due to the Pack already being in residence here, but it was also because the others accepted them. The Council had made certain that the Normals would welcome their 'Protectors' and she and her men had already fallen into that category for the Reservation's inhabitants.

She could still remember going to the grocery store while Bella was in Florida with her mother and being openly encouraged by some of the elder patrons to seek a home within La Push. They appreciated all the help her men put in towards reviving the town –which consisted of chopping down dead trees or aiding in cleaning up a vandalized beach– with the others while they weren't on Patrols.

They felt at _home_ here.

"Do you think this is a place we can afford?" She asked her men suddenly, her gaze lingering on the front door hopefully. She could just imagine hanging a Christmas wreath on that door. She could already smell the breakfasts cooking in the kitchen she hadn't yet seen and hear the patter of children's' feet across the floors. She so badly wanted to have a family of her own, one she would always love and support no matter what circumstances arose, and to be at peace with her men.

She prayed with every part of her being that La Push would be that home for them.

"Look at me, little one." Caleb ordered her gently. She turned her eyes to find him crouched down in front of her, his green eyes all but shimmering. She could see the same hope in his eyes, could feel his eagerness for a place that they could keep her safe, happy, and whole. "We have money stashed away for something like this. Me, Daire, and Boone aren't without our resources. We will do everything we can to make this happen for you. For us. We love you, Evy. More than we could ever express."

Tears welled in her eyes again, though these were tears of joy and not sadness.

She may have left her family behind, may never see her parents again, but she had a family in these three men. She could have a family in this town, with Bella, Issa, and their men. She may have given up on her old life, but the new one that awaited them all promised to be something worth fighting for.

"I love you guys, too. So damned much!"

Evy threw herself forward into their embraces, the tears falling down her face in a soft trickle. They all hugged her back, their love for her shining through their shared bond and warming her heart.

* * *

><p>Larissa glanced towards the Town Hall nervously. She was sitting on a park bench directly across from the Hall, her hands fisted in her lap.<p>

She couldn't believe she was a part of this!

Coming from New York City such a short time ago, she'd never expected she'd become a part of the Supernatural World. At least some of these people had grown up around legends about Shapeshifters and Vampires. She'd come from a place where the closest she ever came to the Supernatural was watching Dracula or the Wolfman. Even back before she'd found herself thrown into the Supernatural she'd laughed her ass off at the absurdity of it all. Blood-drinking dead people? Humans that grew furry and fangy when the full moon was out? That was just nonsensical.

And then she'd met Bella and found herself thrown to the wolves, quite literally, with Brady and Collin.

Her mother was a surgeon and her father was an accountant. She was raised with fairly simplistic values and a hum-drum look on life and her future. She would have never imagined being paired up with two men for the rest of her life; ones that grew a fur coat when they were feeling particularly hostile, and especially would have never thought she'd have fallen in love with them.

How sick was that?!

She'd met them barely over a month ago at the Halloween Party and had fallen into bed with them not even a month later while Bella was taking a well-deserved vacation from her asshole-for-mates. It wasn't until afterwards, while she was throwing up in the toilet and cursing the two boys for making her so god-damned sick, that she realized something very important…

She actually loved the two idiots.

Brady and Collin had been over to her home she shared with her parents almost every day of her sickness from their mating, constantly doting on her and making sure she didn't want for anything. As much as the hovering irritated her when she started feeling better, she couldn't argue against that little part of herself she'd tucked away that wallowed in the cherishing they bestowed upon her. She hadn't felt so…_special_ since she was a little girl.

She'd known from the start that she'd have never jumped into bed with a boy, or in this case, _boys_, if she didn't somewhere in her heart love them. She wasn't a virgin, as loath as her mother was to admit to the truth when she'd found out at turnabout in the tenth-grade. She'd had sex with her sweetheart from school and hadn't regretted a single moment of it, but there'd been something missing between them. Something that went beyond their friendship and ardor for each other that she just couldn't ignore.

Brady and Collin had given her what she'd been missing all along.

They'd given her a sense of permanence she'd been lacking those times before with Jason.

And Holy-Mary-Mother-of-God! Eighteen-year old numbskulls or not, those two certainly knew what they were doing! She didn't know if she particularly liked thinking about them with any women before her, but it certainly paid off for her in the end. It was Collin first, the more dominant of the two, and then Brady…both of them eliciting so much of a response from her that she'd thought she'd burst into flames.

_Of course, if any woman tries to get their hands on either of my men from now onward I'll be more than happy to give her a proper beat-down_.

Polyamory and Supernatural bullshit was never something she would have ever in her wildest dreams have thought she'd find herself in, but she couldn't make herself think for an instant that night back at the Halloween Party that she should have kept running despite what Bella had told her.

_There_ was the other kink in the protective shell she'd wrapped around herself.

Isabella Swan was the best friend, along with Evangeline Dwyer, she'd ever had! Those two were like Mo and Curly to her Larry. Despite all her bitching and aloofness, they both stood strongly beside her. Neither of them turned their backs to her when she needed help. They talked to her about all that she had been thrown into, they comforted her when she wanted it and kicked her ass into gear when she didn't particularly want it, but still needed it. They wouldn't let her run away from a chance at something incredible.

Issa promised herself that she would never turn her back on them for all they'd done for her in such a short amount of time. She would never give them a reason to distrust her.

"You okay, babe?" Brady asked worriedly from behind her, his hands slipping to rest over her shoulders. Without even having to be asked, he began to massage the tension out of the muscles there. The delightful feeling of his hard hands working out the kinks in her exhausted body had her humming thankfully.

"You haven't taken a nap yet today, have you?" Collin inquired with displeasure. He sat down beside her smoothly, his hands picking hers up to perform his own sort of massage to her aching arms and hands.

"Not yet," she begrudgingly admitted. "I was doing Zumba in the back yard when you guys gave me the call from Paul saying that Bella, Jacob, and Sam had come to a decision with the Council. I was going to shower and take a nap afterwards, but like I said – you called."

"We're sorry, chickadee." Collin murmured, his lips pecking an innocent, but tender kiss to her temple. His near obsidian eyes stared right back into hers soulfully. He lifted a hand to caress it over her braids slowly. "If we could stop drawing from you we would. I hate that we're the reason that you're tired so often."

Despite herself, she smiled reassuringly. She might have made a snarky remark had it not been for the earnest regret she saw plastered all over his handsome face. She leaned forward, still being rubbed-down by Brady, and brushed her lips over the sexy little scar on the bridge of his nose. He'd told her it had been from falling face-first over the handlebars of his mountain-bike over five years ago, but it still made him look roguish and sexy as Hell. It also made her want to kiss it as if she could take away the proof of his past pain.

"Don't be sorry. I'm happy that it's you two. I'm happy to be able to help you both in any way I can." She flushed a little and fought not to dip her head down in embarrassment. "Since I was 'destined' to be a mate I'm glad it was you two I was to be mated to."

The unabashed delight that suffused both of their faces made keeping her head up all the more worth it. By telling them what she had, you'd have thought they'd been told they'd won the lottery! From behind, Brady hugged her tightly to his chest. Collin darted forward so fast that she knew if any Normals had been watching they would have instantly suspected something was more than 'off' about the La Push Protectors than they already thought. His lips crashed into hers, their intensity lighting a fire low in her belly.

_And other places_.

Without thinking twice about it she raised her hands to curl her fingers into his chopped off locks and pulled him into her. Her lips pushed against his and her tongue snaked out to clash against his. A deep, rumbling bass echoed from his chest, a mixture between a growl and a groan. It sparked her desire higher.

A throat clearing loudly brought them both out of the kiss. Larissa clenched her fingers tighter into Collin's hair, bound and determined to keep him latched to her. Whoever it was interrupting could suck a horse's ass for all she cared at the moment. Collin snarled into her mouth, his own ire provoked by whoever it was that was trying to garner their attention. It was only Brady's relative calm that kept them from going at it on the park bench out in the open.

"Hello Evy. Caleb. Daire. Boone." Issa hissed and bit at her tongue as she heard the greeting out of her other mate's mouth and pulled away from Collin's lips. She figured her eyes had to be hooded as she looked in the direction of where the clearing throat had come from. Evy, with her trio standing directly behind her; all of them were smirking, but it was the petite red-head that was snickering.

"Are we interrupting something?" She cooed pseudo-innocently.

"Remind me to pay you back for this." She snapped at her friend. Evy simply shook her head in amusement. With a heaving sigh Issa brought herself fully out of Collin's and Brady's hold. Her hands fell back into her lap heavily. "You guys got the call, too?"

"Yeah. About fifteen minutes ago. We were house-hunting." Evy glanced towards the Town Hall where the rest of Bella's men were standing minus Jared and Quil who were running watch over Charlie.

"How's that going?" She asked distractedly, her mind already running over the possible outcomes to the battle with the Council.

"All right. I think we found the house we want, but we're going to need to get the realtor to let us in for a closer look." Issa could hear the distaste in Evy's words. The pale girl certainly had a strong dislike for their realtor. Issa couldn't exactly blame her. When her two men worked part-time at the Diner when they weren't in school or Patrolling they were being eyed up and down by the female patrons. She hated that her men were eye-candy for anyone with half a brain, but she couldn't rightly scratch their eyes out for it.

…As much as she wanted to.

"I hope you guys get it," Larissa smiled encouragingly. Her heart went out to the quad. They hadn't been able to settle down anywhere since they left Evy's home after her parents disowned her. If anyone deserved a solid home, it was Evy and her men.

_Speaking of…I'm going to have to figure out a way to tell my own parents about Collin and Brady. Right now they just think we're only friends._ Jerking her head from side to side to disperse the horrendous thoughts that suddenly assailed her, she settled herself to thinking of it later. There were more pressing matters at the moment.

Evy slid in beside her on the other side of the bench. Their eyes were trained on the front doors of the Town Hall.

* * *

><p>Bella hurried down the few steps of the Town Hall several minutes later, her hair pulled up into a haphazard bun. She'd worn nothing but nice dress-pants and pastel-colored button-up shirts for the past five days and she was itching to change into something more comfortable.<p>

_Like sweatpants and one of the guys' shirts_.

Ignoring that thought, she looked around for her friends.

Beyond her men, whom were crowded around she and the two who had followed her out of the building, she could see the others sitting at a park bench. As soon as the two females caught sight of her they jerked up to their feet. They were all but running across the street moments later with fretting Shifters following in their wake.

"Look both ways, damn it!" Daire shouted at both of them, his eyes frantic as he looked out for the non-existent traffic.

"Larissa! You could have been hit! Do you hear me?!" Brady's words had little to no effect on Issa as the darker-skinned girl continued on undeterred.

Bella shifted the binders in her arms so that she had a better grip on them. Both Jacob and Sam had several boxes full of contracts, paperwork, and deeds in their hands. She'd certainly gotten the lighter load of the three, though they hadn't even wanted her holding onto those. One stern-faced glare was all they'd needed to give up possession of just a few of the documents to her keeping.

"How'd it go?" Issa asked.

"What's the verdict?" Evy chimed at the same time.

Bella waited until everyone was assembled on the sidewalk, the women corralled into the middle of the wall of nearly-indestructible flesh that was their mates. Knowing that no one else would hear them on the dead streets of La Push, as it was well past dinner time, she let out an emphatic 'they agreed'.

Several of the men whooped while the girls all squealed delightedly.

When she'd regained her breath, Bella started in on the tale. "The Council was completely against it at first. This is a Reservation and technically they don't want anyone on the territories that isn't Native in descent. That was the whole purpose of it being a Reservation, after all. The crux to the whole thing, though, is that not _all_ of La Push is a Reservation. The Packs bought out a lot of the land surrounding it. Actually, they bought damn near _most_ of it. They were also the ones who funded most all of the businesses within this town and several of the ones in Forks and the neighboring tribes. If the Pack left because of the tribe not accepting them, we could rightfully dismantle every establishment within the Reservation. All of the revenue would be _gone_." She smirked. "The Council did _not_ like hearing that."

"No shit." Jacob shook his head in wonder. "My old man about busted a vein when we pulled out all of the signed deeds for the Rez. All of the shops and such have their own copies, but these were the originals without any omissions. The primary reason this took so long was because all of the deeds needed to be verified. They were notarized, but some of them are so old we had to go back a _long_ ways to determine their validity."

"Anyway, we basically told the Council that it had two options. The first was that they would either accept the Pack and allow in other Shifters, which in the end would profit the Reservation as a whole due to the added revenue and higher population…or we could leave. If we left, though, we would take _everything_ with us. The Reservation may be getting a certain amount of money from the government, but it wouldn't be enough to restart this place almost from scratch. By the time they could be reimbursed for all the shops that would be forced into bankruptcy, La Push would be all but wiped out. They could recover, but it certainly wouldn't be a quick or profitable endeavor.

"We have a lot of paperwork to deal with, but it's going to be done. We're going to be calling in Wanderers around the globe, the ones searching for a home, to come and settle here. We'll need Brigitte's help, I'm sure, but we can do this." The grin stretching across her face was fit to split her cheeks right open.

Jake pressed a hand to her lower back and began to rub circles into it. She was tired from all of the battling they'd been doing with not only the Council, but also the government. The government, of course, wasn't clueless to the Supernatural world. They also had their own sets of paperwork that needed to be filed to do what they were all working so hard to make happen, but they had the support they needed now.

They were making a home for everyone here.

"What about the current town?" Evy splayed her hands outwards, gesturing in general towards the main street. "The population here is puny at best, but it's still a _Normal_ community. How are they going to take to so many Shifters coming into the town? I doubt we can hide this happening!"

Sam spoke next, his tone mellow for the situation. "There are currently two-hundred and sixty-three people living on the Reservation. Nearly two-hundred of that are aware of our 'ancestry' even if they don't believe in the Legends. There are a total of fifteen members directly on the Council and another thirty-five that are completely aware of how true our Legends are since they are enlisted as possible Council members if the current ones are unable to continue servicing the Reservation. The Council is working out how we're going to either inform the Normals of what their Protectors really are or how to better hide us.

"The main gist, though, is that we'll be bringing in people from other Reservations and abandoned towns. La Push is going to be a refugee, so to speak. The story we're supposed to be giving the Normals is that we're, as a tribe, helping to bring people together and helping our fellow men – and women – out when the world is at such a low point." His eyes zoomed in on Evy and her men. "You four'll be the first of the 'refugees'. Consider yourselves the guinea pigs. Don't mess it up." The last was said more in jest than with seriousness.

"No pressure, Sam," Evy snorted, her eyes rolling up into her skull. Caleb rubbed circles into her shoulders comfortingly.

"So…where do we go from here?" Issa voiced the question aloud, her eyes trained on Bella.

"First step is everyone going home and getting some rest," Jake spoke before she could, his tone drenched with Authority. He gave her a pointed look, but softened his stare when she thinned her lips at his highhandedness. He still had a lot of things to be forgiven for and to make up to her. "This has been a long five days and I think all of us need to take a few days off to breathe. Christmas is less than three weeks away and I'm sure we've all got our hands full between now and then."

"Sure sure," Bella hushed, her shoulders drooping. She did need a nap, as well as a long, hot bath and a lot of cheesy, fattening food, but as soon as she was rested she'd be holed up in the office of the Cabin.

They had a lot of work to do and she was going to make absolute certain that there would be a home for everyone when the time came.

_Just try and stop me_, she challenged them all in the privacy of her own mind.

_Just you try_.


	30. Chapter 29: Plans Unfolding

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Plans Unfolding**

"Bella, you need to get out of here for a little while."

Isabella Swan glanced up from the e-mail correspondence she'd been reading through. Jared stood in the doorway, his thick arms crossed heavily over his chest. Seth stood just behind him, his eyes anxious as he looked her up and down.

"I'm busy," she said tiredly. A yawn worked its way out of her mouth nearly immediately afterwards, the force of it nearly cracking her jaw. Her eyes burned from sitting in front of the computer Paul had had made for them in the study. She'd been pouring all she had into making the Reservation a place for other Shifters to come home to. She had so many legal papers that needed signing, organizing, and careful storage that she hadn't even had the time to worry over her and her men's rocky relationship. She didn't have time to fret over Victoria. When she wasn't in the study going through paperwork she was helping her father with organizing his new home, a single-story Ranch in Forks. The home-insurance had covered the loss of everything in the fire, though it could never bring back all of their pictures and heirlooms, and so he was able to buy all new things for the new house.

"You're too busy, Bella." Jared maneuvered into the room, his bulk filling up the tiny space nearly to bursting. At least it felt that way to Bella. Any one of them radiated power and authority, which made even the largest rooms seem smothered in their presence. Jared's hand lowered to her seated form slowly, his eyes pleading with her. "Come on, sweetheart. Please come with us. You've been in here almost an entire week since we were given permission to go through with establishing the Sanctuary. Just – just take a break. One day! Please?"

She nibbled lightly on her lower lip, her gaze shifting between Jared and Seth slowly. She'd been working so hard lately and the guys had left her alone knowing that this was something she _needed_ to do. They'd brought her meals into the study for her most days and though she didn't eat much of what they brought, she was grateful for their caring. She'd been anything but civil with many of them, but they still made the effort to see to her health. Her body weighed heavily with exhaustion, though, since she'd been too determined to do what needed to be done that she'd neglected herself and her acquired sleeping patterns.

_How long has it been since I've gotten a full night's sleep? How long since I've settled down like I used to and taken a nap?_

She couldn't remember.

Glancing back over her shoulder to the bright computer screen Bella released a gusty sigh. Turning the chair around so that she could reach the screen without stretching, she slid her finger lightly across the touch-screen before initiating the Lock.

Relief and content washed through her from the two men behind her – and more distantly the others who were so tightly bound to her.

She took Jared's large, hot hand cautiously. He pulled her up onto her feet with exaggerated slowness. She watched his eyes scan her up and down and saw the wrinkle between his brows caused by his worry for her.

Both of them looked as if they were about to open their mouths to voice a protest to whatever it was they saw that they didn't like, but thought better of it. She could hear their teeth snap back together with the swiftness of it. Jared's lips tightened into a firm line. Seth shifted behind Jared to get her attention. Their shoulders collided as the younger of the two tried to wiggle his way into the room.

"How about some breakfast?" Seth's hand settled very lightly onto her lower back, his fingers wrapping around her slight frame a tad. Jared's eyes zoomed in on his friend's fingers which he could see wrapped around from behind. The fact that he could see them seemed to be his undoing.

"We shouldn't have let this go on."

"Jared," Seth warned, his hold on her back turning heavier. The hand she held in Jared's hand was growing very hot as his grip increased slightly.

"Fucking bitch," Jared muttered under his breath. With his free hand he scrubbed a frustrated path over his face. Bella felt horrid seeing the tension in his body and knowing that she was causing his distress. Even Seth was wound-up beside her. They still needed to work things out – the others still needed to speak the words she so desperately wanted to hear and show her that they meant it – but she was obligated to take care of herself. She needed to consider her own well-being if only for their sakes.

"How about some French Toast?" She forced cheerfulness into her voice that she didn't necessarily feel. Pleasant surprise suffused both of their faces. "Actually, French Toast sounds absolutely delicious. Maybe some scrambled eggs, too?"

"Coming right up!" Jared cheered, his smile delighting her. As wrong as it was to say or think, she was proud of herself for pleasing him. The bond they shared as well as her friendship with each of them made so that everything she did would be for them and their happiness as a mated group. They were meant to be together no matter how much grief they suffered due to one of their foolhardy actions.

Jared kissed the back of her hand before hurrying off to the kitchen, his eagerness endearing.

Seth led her at a more sedate pace after his brother. For the first time in such a long time she felt only peace coming off of her youngest mate. She leaned into him as they walked, his body heat and strength relaxing her overwrought body better than even a soak in a hot-tub. For being the youngest of the guys you'd never mistake him for it. He was only a year older than her, yet carried himself as if he were as old as the Ages, his body as developed as a young man in his prime.

She was led to sit down at the breakfast counter in the kitchen. Jared was already busying himself with making her breakfast.

"You don't need to make my breakfast for me, you know." She spoke softly as Seth took the seat beside her. Both of them froze as if stuck in time. Their brows lifted in a synchronized way. Bella snickered before waving her hands dismissively. "I know. I know. You want to. I was just saying that you don't need to."

"Of course we know that we don't need to." Jared glanced down at her indulgently. "We want to. We like to take care of you especially after all we've done and with what you're doing for this tribe."

Nodding silently, Bella looked down to her hands, which were folded neatly on her lap. She glanced back up after a few moments to look between both of her mates. "So what are we doing today? I figure it's safe to assume that I'm not going back to work?"

Seth beamed at her. "We've got two more weeks before Christmas. We thought that you might like to come out with us to go find a tree?"

"Oh my God!" She gasped, her eyes widening comically. "I was so caught up with everything that I didn't think…oh, I have so much left to do! Not to mention school. Ugh! How am I ever going to do all of this?"

A large hand settled over hers on her lap. Seth's other hand tapped beneath her chin prompting her to look up into his deep brown eyes. His gaze was intense and earnest.

"We'll help you." His words were gentle, but by no means less impacting. "We'll help you with everything if you'll just let us."

"But," she began only to have Seth settle his thumb over her lips. Her first instinct was to poke her tongue out and lick the digit silencing her, but she tamped it down with a little persistence. It wouldn't do at all to do such a thing.

"Bella…we know how hard you're working to do everything. You don't have to. We want to help you. We _need_ to. Paul saw the GED papers. Were you planning on dropping out of school, baby?"

She sighed deeply, a headache working its way behind her eyes. Her hands rose to cradle her face and hide her expressions from them. She hadn't wanted anyone to know about applying for the GED classes online. She felt like a failure for not being able to attend school like a normal person her age, but there was so much going on. There were too many things that needed to be handled. She didn't see any way that she could go to Forks school any longer on a regular basis and still pass. She couldn't be a normal girl anymore.

"I don't see as I have a choice." Her voice began to crack with emotion. "I've missed so much time and I'm falling so far behind. Plus I can't fit into the town like I used to, even when the Cullens were around. You can't hide being with multiple men forever. I mean, remember when Collin and Brady talked about it even before they Shifted?! Everyone at least has an idea! With Victoria coming back into the equation and then trying to bring the other Shifters to La Push…I just…I can't."

"Shh," Seth shushed her, his arms banding around her to lift her onto his lap. Instinctively she turned her face into his chest and cried softly. Her fingers moved from hiding her face to kneading his pectorals. She rubbed her nose into his heat, her body all but aching for the physical comfort he was offering her.

"None of us think badly of you, Bella," Jared assured from across the counter. His voice was as soft as a lullaby in her ears. "You're doing what you believe is best and I can't say that I disagree with you. You're so very brave to be doing as much as you are for the Sanctuary. You're putting everyone and everything before yourself and I have never met a stronger woman."

"Bella, there's no shame in getting a GED instead of a Highschool Diploma. You're completing your education, baby. You're proving that you're willing to go the distance towards making sure you are educated to society's standards." Seth kissed her temple periodically throughout his comforting speech, his chest nearly rumbling under her nose. "Please, baby, if you have anything that you need or want help with, just ask us. Any of us. You're never going to go it alone, Bella. We're all here for you."

Instead of acknowledging his words, though deep down she felt them to be true, Bella just allowed herself to get lost in the feel of his arms around her. No matter what happened between them she felt most at home in any of their embraces. She didn't feel like a whole person without them with her and physically connected somehow. A part of her hated that the bond they shared as mates is what made it impossible for any of them to walk away from each other, but a whispering, persistent voice in her subconscious told her that they were all meant to be together. They all just…fit. They were made to be together, both through the good times and the bad.

A short time later Jared set several plates down before them. Thick-sliced French-Toast and enough scrambled eggs to nearly overflow one of the mixing bowls were foremost, but a steadily increasing pile of bacon lay just within her reach that Jared kept adding to from the still sizzling frying pan.

"Would you like some cinnamon butter for your French-Toast, Bella?" At her enthusiastic nod, Seth lifted her off of his lap and back into her own seat before going to the fridge to get the whipped topping. "Milk or orange juice?"

"Milk, please." A sudden thought struck her and she began to look around the room. "Where's Lily?"

Both males growled a little. It was Jared that answered, seeming to refuse to look at her. "The little furball is in the Laundry lounging in the basket of newly washed clothes. All my shit's covered in fur now."

"You're all fur anyway, Jared!" She snapped very lightly, not truly put-off by his dislike of her kitten. Such was the way of cats and dogs. Lily had been her near constant companion since she'd returned home. It was simply nice for her to know that the feline had finally become comfortable with leaving her side and exploring her new home.

She still smirked to remember Sam finding the cat having thrown-up a hairball onto his rarely-used sneakers the last time she'd ventured off on her own.

Though the guys may gripe about how her new kitten chose to live her life in their home, Bella knew they would never hurt the little creature. Lily was special to Bella and therefore untouchable by them.

"Here you go." Seth set the milk down before her before lathering cinnamon-butter onto her French-Toast for her. Instead of complaining over the treatment she forked a helping of eggs into her mouth.

Bella smiled around her bite of perfectly cooked egg, her wonder at their cooking ability not lost in the moment of quiet. She didn't know where they had learned to cook, but she was grateful for it nonetheless. While she enjoyed being in the kitchen and dishing up meals to fill the bellies of her loved ones she appreciated not having to do it out of necessity. If someone else could cook – at the very least toast some bread or boil some water – it pulled some weight off of her shoulders. She could take her chance at relaxing just the tiniest bit instead of constantly fretting over the wellbeing of everyone else.

"So, you wanna go find us a tree?" Jared asked as he took his own seat beside her. He beamed at her, a slice of bacon sticking from his mouth in a kind of gluttony-version of a cigar. She giggled at the face he gave her, but thrilled inwardly like a child opening presents on their birthday at the mention of picking out a tree.

"Of course!"

With that Bella rushed through finishing her breakfast, amidst the urging of her mates to slow down and chew, before bounding away from the counter towards her room. She needed to get a quick shower in and a change of clothes before they went outside. Fuzzy pink slipper-socks and an oversized pink nighty with black yoga pants did not make for a good tree-hunting outfit. Comfortable, but not functional.

"Dress warm, Bella. It's incredibly cold out today." Jared warned her, his tone both worried and demanding all at once. She waved him off over her shoulder.

"I will."

* * *

><p>Several hours later Bella found herself comfortably ensconced in her white fur coat, boots, thick thermal leggings hidden underneath grey snow-pants, and greyed mittens on her hands. She practically bounced on her feet in the thick layer of snow of one of the nearby mountainous ranges as Jacob and Sam worked together to tie a fair-sized pine tree onto an oversized sled which was hooked up to a harness attacked to Seth's back.<p>

When they'd said they were going to go looking for a Christmas tree she had assumed they'd be going to the local tree-farms to look. Never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that they'd be taking her on a wolf-ride through the rugged terrain of Mount Olympus to a secluded valley of trees at its base closest to La Push.

She was giddy.

"It's so perfect," she drawled, her happiness radiating out to her men. Not all of them had come, but that didn't matter so much in the grand scheme of things. They shared a bond, an emotional link to each other. What she felt, they felt. Her joy was theirs to share in.

"Took you long enough to pick one out," Jacob poked fun, the muscles in his arms tensing just the slightest bit as he tightened a set of ropes over the felled tree. He winked at her to show his jest – as if she couldn't hear the playfulness in his tone. "I thought the first one was perfect."

"It was crooked." She turned her nose up at the memory of that tree. It was the right height for the raised ceiling in the main living room of the Cabin, but when she rounded it she noticed that there was an unseemly gap in the rows of branches. True; the tree wouldn't be placed into the center of the room so not all of it would be seen, but she was nitpicky when it came to Christmas. It was her favorite holiday. She couldn't allow something that was an eye-sore into her home.

My _home, hmm?_ The inner her chimed, smugness dripping through every syllable. _No matter what it'll always be your home with them, won't it, sweet cheeks?_

_Oh shut up_.

"You could have put that hole in the corner." Sam instantly clamped his mouth shut at the baleful look she set upon him. One did not imply that a Swan woman could possibly conceive in desecrating their long-passed-down traditions for Christmas. Finding 'the tree' was one of the biggest to-do's for the holiday season.

_And then comes the decorating_.

That would come soon enough. She needed to purchase all new decorations since the ones she'd had before were burned in their old house. It was a sorrowful thought, knowing that 'Baby's First Christmas' ornament and great-great-grandma's Angel tree-topper were nothing but ash on the perpetually moist ground of Forks. They'd lost so many heirlooms. So many memories tied to various objects littered throughout the house.

Shaking the morbid thoughts off, Bella resigned herself to making a trip out to Port Angeles. She knew of a small, family-owned, but wonderfully stocked store that sold holiday goodies year-round. She'd gone there to purchase Thanksgiving table-toppers and various knickknacks when she'd imagined inviting her mates' families for a hopefully pleasant dinner, but that plan had gone up in smoke. Quite literally it would seem.

"Hand over the tarp, Jared." Bella turned her attention back to the men working before her, none of them wearing any more than their cut-offs. Barefooted and shirtless, Bella shivered just imagining the horrors of the frigid air hitting her own skin had she been thusly dressed. Seth whimpered and nudged his nose into her back.

All of them stared at her intently, their focus entirely absorbed into her and onto her absolute comfort.

"Oh, I'm fine," she hurried to reassure them. Her hands batted furtively before her. "I was just thinking of how cold I'd be if I was dressed like you guys are!"

Sam smirked at her. "Which is why you're bundled up all nice and warm in your coat and mittens. You let us know if you get chilly and we'll pull out the blanket. All right?"

"Okay."

The only one carrying anything was Seth. They'd steadfastly refused to allow her to carry the 'substantial burden' of a backpack before they'd left the Cabin and besides that Seth had already been rigged with a harness made by Boone, who happened to be a leather-craftsman, and could carry a hell of a lot more weight than she. They'd draped several sets of ropes over his haunches, a tarp to cover the tree once they'd found it so needles weren't blown forcefully off of it at the speeds in which they ran in wolf-form, and an overly thick, feathered comforter for her if she grew cold.

_Caring bastards_, she thought fondly.

It was at times like this, these wonderfully peaceful moments where they were nothing but considerate of her and her needs, that she felt she could never find a reason to fault them. She wished for it to always be like this, but knew deep down that wishing for such things was fruitless and foolhardy. There was no such thing as a perfect relationship. There were always ups and downs. She needed to not only understand, but also embrace the fact that there would be times that their connection would sour.

Things just simply could not be perfect every moment of every day.

_Where would the fun be in that anyway?_ Bella rolled her eyes inwardly at the teasing inner voice cheerily humming a tune in her head. Sometime she wondered on the part of herself that prompted her to act so recklessly or think naughty thoughts, but it wasn't a true worry. That piece of her kept her grounded to reality. That part of her kept her from spiraling down into a realm of sameness. It kept her from the monotony of a boring, tiresome life that she had no urge to live in.

She startled to see her men all stiffen where they stood before she was surrounded by a wall of muscle. Her men shook violently and growls erupted from their throats. They all but glowered at the nearby tree-line. Peaking between a bicep and back she could see only thickly veiled woods.

"What is it?" She asked quietly. She backed up so that she was pressed firmly into Seth's massive, warm body. He was comfort. He was safety. He was home. They wouldn't let anything get to her.

"Vamp," Jake spat, his back vibrating. Bella clenched her teeth together as the sound of popping and snapping bones reached her ears. Right before her eyes she watched as her men shifted their forms into the hulking beasts of their half-shift. They looked so much like wolfmen in this form. She would have been frightened beyond imagining if she were in the other side of their protective circle.

There was no noise to accompany the vampire's entrance into their territory. No clash of thunder like that time with the Cullens in the clearing where they'd played baseball. There wasn't an ominous wind blowing through. There wasn't even the sound of wildlife chirping or clicking nearby. It was all very quiet and anticlimactic.

Still looking through the gap made by Sam's arm and side she could see the dark form of the vampire in question gliding past the trees up to them. He wore a pair of pale grey slacks and a nearly blue button-up shirt draped by a nearly black suit jacket. His dark skin stuck out to her in the whiteness that surrounded him, his dreadlocks pulled back into a low-slung ponytail. Eyes as red as rich velvet glancing around him alertly.

She knew this vampire.

"L-laurent?" Bella stuttered, her heart thumping hard in her chest.

The dark-skinned man smiled, but it wasn't in a nice way. It verged on sinister to her line of thinking. His nostrils flared only a little and his smile grew wider.

"You always did have such a mouthwatering smell." At the echoing growls, Laurent's smile dropped. His eyes grew fierce, if not a little fearful. "Quiet, dog. Human mates always carry a more intoxicating scent than Normal humans. They were born towards the Supernatural and that makes them so…enticing. Such strong blood trapped in such fragile bodies."

Bella leaned back into Seth's side as Jared emerged from the opposite tree-line where he'd been gathering up the tools they'd used to chop down their tree, his body tensed and ready to kill. He hadn't bothered with the half-shift. He'd resorted to his fully wolf form immediately upon sensing the danger present. Her gaze jerked to her brown-furred mate, noting that the grey tipping the fur around his face was quivering with every snarl ripping through his maw. She could feel his and Seth's complete and utter hatred of the vampire before them, could all but taste the bloodlust on her tongue it was so strong.

"Wait guys. Please."

Jared barked viciously, but stood still instead of advancing. Laurent, she noted absentmindedly, had backed up a pace from where she stood. Despite the front he put on it was obvious that he wasn't immune to the power and threat emanating from her men.

"Why are you here, Laurent? Did Victoria send you?"

"Of course." At the bold response she felt only shock, but her mates snarled deeply. Seth's body quaked behind her. The vampire's lips ticked up once more. "I'm no fool, though. That female has a penchant for escaping every situation she finds herself in, but she seems to overlook my proclivity towards survival in the face of those higher than myself on the food chain."

"Say what you came for, leech, before I rip your throat out and coax your burning corpse into speaking." Bella jolted violently as she was suddenly jerked off of her feet and into the arms of one of her men caught in the half-shift. Glancing back she could see that it was Sam, his black-as-pitch fur ticking along the white fur of her coat. Jacob rounded around Seth as Sam settled her into sitting upon Seth's wide back. He was still in his half-shirt, but just barely. He was shaking so violently that his outline was beginning to blur.

"Allah." Laurent whispered, his blood-red eyes widened beyond recognition. "I had thought…I have not faced a Prime since my years as a Newborn."

"He should have slaughtered you then and saved me the trouble." Jake seemed to lose control of his need to change over in that moment, his body expanding horrendously before her eyes. Before he lost his ability to speak clearly he quite literally barked out "speak", the sharpness of the command burning in her ears.

"Victoria sought me out in Alaska where I was staying with the Denali clan. She was quite…adamant in her need to see me. You see, she holds a grudge against you and the bronze-haired one, Edward, for ending her mate."

"He had no trouble trying to end me!" Bella snapped, her jaw tightening in her anger. With jerking movements, entirely aware of Sam guarding her front and Seth braced beneath her in case they needed to flee, she pulled up her sleeves to reveal the silvered bite mark Laurent's coven-mate had given her not so long ago. "He shot me up with his venom and was going to Change me. He was aiming to drain me dry before that!"

"It matters not to her, little Induja." She startled at hearing that title slipping from his mouth. She felt the surprise, too, in her mates, but they didn't show any outward signs of it. Laurent's eyes brightened. "Induja are not just born-mates of Shifters, Isabella. They are Supernatural through-and-through. They are sometimes mated to Vampires as well. Perhaps even Sidhe or Otherfolke, though those are rarely-bred breeds nowadays."

Bella clenched her jaw to keep herself from asking after the rest of the Supernatural community. It was beyond tempting, of course, to learn more about the secret world hidden in this 'human-dominated' society, but there was a more pressing matter she needed to know about.

"What did Victoria want to see you about, Laurent?"

"She wanted me to…keep an eye on you." A stray, bitter wind knocked a few of his dreadlocks over his shoulder and sent a shudder through her body. She tucked herself more securely into her coat and gloves before pulling her front more fully into Seth's back. "Rather, she wanted me to perform a little reconnaissance on you and your Vegetarian family."

While the others growled in fury at her having been referred to as the Cullens' in any way, Bella spoke as loudly as she could over the ruckus. "As you can plainly see I'm not with the Cullens any longer. I, how would you say, traded up for a furrier crowd?" She mocked the vampire lightly, her voice far more steady than it had been when she'd first seen him across the forest.

_Give the guy credit, at least he's chuckling._

"You did seem to be such a darling little thing when we first met, Induja. I can see now how you fit so well into that coven. You were born to live in the Supernatural world. You were born to _lead_ within it." He tapped at his temple. "You see, I have a certain gift, too. Not a particularly wonderful gift, nor a very useful one to anyone else, but I've always been one to sense power. Not physical power or mental power, but the power someone unleashes upon the world. Line up a million men before me and I could point out those meant for leadership and those that are better off as sheep."

"Would you quit blathering, Laurent?!" A husky, feminine voice called from nearby. Bella head lurched towards the sound. She was more than a little put-off to see a pale-faced woman with hair as rich in color as fine gold walking assuredly up behind Laurent. Her grace was that of one granted immortality, her eyes as vivid in color as her eyes. As soon as she was pulled up behind the male vampire, Bella watched as the woman wrapped her arms around his waist and up to his chest where she fanned her hands out open over his shoulders. Her head poked out over one shoulder, her temple leaning into the side of his head. "My name is Irina. I am from the Denali Coven. Laurent is my mate."

"I'm Bella," she found herself saying, her shock taking over once again. The others seemed to have known that Luarent wasn't alone, which wasn't an astonishing fact to her. No doubt her other men were running to hold a perimeter in the woods in case either of the two vampire decided to flee or attack. She could feel them nearing, having come at the first signs of stress from her and most likely a mental call from their brothers. In all likelihood Evy's and Issa's mates were back guarding La Push itself allowing their leaders to face off against the fanged duo.

"Isabella Swan. Alleged mate of Edward Cullen." Irina's smile was a tad lighter than that of her mate's when the wolves growled at her. "_Alleged_, doggies. Damn, but you lot are choosy in what you wish to hear."

"Enough, Irina." Laurent warned, worry evident in his tone as he backed them both away from Jacob, who was clenching his claw-tipped fingers into his palms. "When I discovered you were an Induja to a pack of wolves, all Alpha males to trump that, I was enticed into switching my allegiances."

"You can't stay here," Bella stated firmly, her hands fisting into Seth's back. "The presence of Vampires is what triggers our men to Shift. I won't have more innocent men who could live Normal lives Shifting when I know that it could have been prevented if you all would just stay away from the territories."

"Understood." Both vampires nodded with a single head jerk, but Laurent's face was as hard as the rocks hanging over the ocean waters. "I had not planned on staying here, anyway. My allegiance is to those in strongest command and that is not Victoria, no matter how much she wishes it were so. We will be returning to Denali this night.

"What needs to be told is that Victoria is amassing an army." At those words she felt every one of her men stiffen with fury, their bodies unable to tremble they were so overcome by their own rage. "She is hunting throughout the surrounding states and picking the best stock of humans for her Newborn army. She plans to bring them here and destroy you and all that you love. She is as vindictive as James was sadistic."

"Do you know anything else? Anything that could help us?" She asked flatly. Outwardly she forced a strong, steady appearance. Inwardly she was trembling and wanting to curl up into a ball in order to hide away from all of this.

"No. She does not share the details in her little Movements." He tapped a finger to his temple. "She's smart when she wishes to be, Miss Swan. I traveled with she and James for long enough to know that much. Keep your wolves on alert. It is anyone's guess when that female will fire the proverbial gun."

Both vampires turned and began to leave to the denser parts of the forest.

"Irena," Bella called out to the beautiful blonde. The woman turned her head so that she was at least partially regarding her. "I'm going out on a limb here and believing that you and your family have been in contact with the Cullen's since they left Forks. Am I correct?"

"You wouldn't be wrong," she smirked back. Bella forced herself to ignore the deeply-buried urge to teach the other woman some respect. She didn't need to cause a mini-war between her Pack and these two Wanderers. "We believed it was just a short visit, however, since they never mentioned leaving their beloved human behind."

"I would very much appreciate it if you passed on word to the Cullen's for me if you see them again." For an instant Irina didn't look as though she was going to willingly play messenger-girl. Bella dreaded the thought of the blonde refusing. The Cullen Coven needed to be contacted and Bella knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had no way of getting in contact with them on her own.

Irina nodded minutely in ascent. "The former Treaty has changed. With the new Pack there is a whole new set of rules. They can't come back to Forks. There is a minimal distance that they need to keep from the Reservation. If they come within a hundred miles of La Push – well, we'll have to cross that bridge if we come to it."

The woman remained silent, her topaz eyes assessing her mounted form. Finally she smirked, her whole face lighting from the inside with her mirth.

"You know, girl, the whole Coven had wondered what drew Edward to you. I think I see a bit of it now. You are a powerhouse of a human, Isabella Swan. I don't think anyone else would be capable of handling her own Tribe of Shapeshifters, let alone being mated to seven Alphas." The blonde winked. "I rue the day I ever have to face up against you, human."

"Hopefully you won't have to, Irena." Bella meant what she said. The other woman, despite having lost her mortality, seemed to be level-headed and bright. She didn't exude any animosity towards any of them. Nothing beyond irritation at any rate. She didn't want to have to be the one to sign the death warrant for anyone, human or otherwise, unless there was no other choice. Against one of her men Irina might stand a chance…against the whole Tribe she would meet her final death. Her 'immortality' would be proven false.

"I think it best if we leave now, mate," Laurent spoke softly, his eyes zipping between her men frantically. "I believe our welcome was overstayed the moment we stepped foot on this land."

"Goodbye Laurent. Irina." She watched them go in silence, her eyes trained on their backs. The duo made a rather striking couple. Laurent's darkly colored body and Irina's radiating light. Such opposites attracting, at least physically, was astonishing.

Briefly she wondered if Vampire mating was the same as Shifter mating. Did one of their souls call to another? Was it more of a conscious and willing mating? Were the Fates vacant in the finding of their mates? Was it by sight, smell, or otherwise that they found attraction to their chosen one?

She supposed it didn't matter.

She was Induja and mated to seven Alpha Shapeshifters. Vampire mating was none of her business.

The vampiric duo looked back at her at the same moment, as if having timed it to do so together, just as they were about to pass into the cover of the trees and their freedom. There was a particular glint to their red and gold eyes that spoke of quiet faith and assuredness, a kind of grudging respect that was felt far more than seen. Bella had the sneaking suspicion that she'd somehow earned a place in these two vampire's eyes as something more than just a Vegetarian Vampire Coven's little human tagalong.

Something to think on later.

"That was interesting," she spoke to no-one in particular, her words hushed. She watched on as her men progressively eased their postures, Jared, Sam, and Jacob going as far as to shift back to human form sans cut-offs as the threat passed.

Jacob shuddered as his eyes came to land onto her seated form. His eyes glowed with the wolf hidden beneath his human façade. She wasn't threatened and she knew well that she had no reason to be. They wouldn't intentionally hurt her – never with intent and never again in the way they had scantly a month ago.

"I don't like this," he growled out to her, his entire body coiled as tight as a bow string ready to snap. Spittle all but dripped from his mouth. He was livid. "You are in constant danger. My mate is forever threatened by the Supernatural world. Gods fucking damn it!" His voice echoed around them like the thunder she'd thought of earlier when the two had entered the cramped clearing. Jacob, her Alpha and Prime, her mate, was radiating enough power and authority to be deemed a God in his own rights.

Strangely she found herself almost unwillingly aroused by the thinly leashed power he held within him and the loving, descent man that contained it all. Naked or not, Jacob Black was one was the sexiest men she'd ever seen in her short life.

"I'm safe." She had to clear her throat to dispel the huskiness that laced her words. Several times. "You won't let anyone hurt me, Jacob. None of you will. I know that."

"I don't like you being in danger. You're supposed to be safe. Always!" He charged forward and pulled her from Seth's back. His arms curled around her in both a sheltering move and one aimed to comfort – whether it was he or she that needed the comforting was up for debate. Perhaps it was a bit of both?

"I _am_ safe." Her hands slid over his tensed back soothingly. With a few well-placed strokes they met no resistance. His body began to unwind under her tender touch. "_You_ make me safe."

"Spirits, Bella," Jacob breathed, his voice now trembling. His head bowed so that he could trail his nose through the hair he revealed after nudging her hood aside. "We can't lose you. We can't."

Tears prickled her eyes. She turned her face into his hot chest so that she could hide her face better from the others surrounding her. She didn't want them to see the weakness on her face. She didn't want them to see her breaking down in the face of their fears of losing her. They'd very nearly lost her by their own hands, _would_ have lost her if the Fates hadn't assured their bond held firmly. She doubted they would survive a second loss.

Isabella didn't believe for an instant that she could survive it, either.

"You won't." She spoke the words with all of the assuredness she could force into her normally soft voice. Her hands clenched once on Jake's back. "I won't let it happen."

"And that, Mesdames et Messieurs, is an Induja!"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Disclaimer<span>:** I do NOT own Twilight.


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